Moving On
by SMHHHHFan
Summary: A year after her husband's death Stephanie McMahon is still having a hard time moving on until she meets someone who could possibly help change that.
1. Chapter 1

I probably shouldn't start a new story but I couldn't help myself. Let me know if you like it and if I should continue!

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Stephanie pulled some strands of hair behind her ear and away from her face but it was pointless as another strong gust of wind blew it right back in her face. Taking her hair band from her wrist she tied her hair back and looked up at the now grey colored clouds. She sighed knowing she didn't have much longer to sit here before the storm started. She looked back down and straight ahead of her at the headstone. Today made a year since her husband's death and it didn't feel any less painful now than it had then. Last year on this day they had got into an argument and he had stormed out of the house wanting to put some space between them to cool down. She had watched him through the kitchen window get into his car and pull away not knowing it was the last time she would see him. While he was out driving he was hit by a drunk driver head on and died while the drunk driver had ended up surviving. To this day she blamed herself, of course she blamed the drunk driver too but if it hadn't been for her starting that stupid argument he would still be alive.

Before the accident they had been talking about finally starting a little family of their own. At least In her mind it was finally time, she loved children and she couldn't wait to be a mom. They had started dating when Stephanie turned twenty and had dated for four years before tying the knot. Some people thought it wouldn't last because of their age but they hadn't cared because in her heart she knew he was the one. Nobody had ever made her feel the way he had and no other man ever would. He was the one she was certain was going to be the father of her children and who she was going to grow old with. So after dating for four years and making it to their second year of marriage Stephanie decided to bring up the subject of children one night as they were getting ready for bed. She could still remember the smile that spread across his face as they talked about it.

This was definitely not the way she had pictured her life a year later. Sitting in the cemetery talking to him, she came often as she could. At first it felt strange just sitting there talking but the more she came the more it had brought some comfort to her. She was having a hard time letting go and moving on.

Stephanie wiped the tears from her eyes as drops of rain started to fall and she knew it was time to go.

"I'll be back soon" she whispered standing up "I love you"

She walked away from his grave and headed down to her car as the rain started coming down heavier. Once she reached her car she hurried in and shut the door behind her. She reached over to the passenger seat where she had left her phone and checked it for any missed notifications. Her mother had been calling to check on her most of the day because she knew it was going to be a hard day. Linda had even offered to come with her to the cemetery but Stephanie had refused the offer. All she really wanted to do today was be alone but nobody of course was taking the hint. It was like they were afraid she was going to go off the deep end. So when she noticed she had two missed calls it wasn't that much of a surprise really. Honestly she was more surprised that it wasn't more than that. One was from her mother and the other was her best friend who had made her swear she would come over to her apartment for dinner.

Stephanie laid the phone back down in the seat and started her car. She didn't see a reason for calling her best friend back since that was where she was headed. As for her mother well she appreciated how caring and supportive she was being today but she was avoiding most of her calls. At some point she was expecting Linda to start in on how she should move on and get back out there. It was what she had been doing recently anyway and she had tried to talk Stephanie into finally taking off her wedding ring. That just wasn't something she was ready to do yet, she couldn't even bring herself to think about it. She pushed those thoughts away as she turned on the windshield wipers and put her car in drive and pulled away.

When she reached her friend's apartment building she pulled into a parking space and shut the engine off dreading to have to get back out in the rain. At least she did have an umbrella this time though. She reached in the backseat floor board feeling around for her umbrella that she always kept in the car for times like these. Once she found it she turned back around and stared out of the windshield for a few more seconds with a sigh. She watched as people raced through the rain to the building and some running out of the building to their cars trying to get out of the rain.

It wasn't just the rain she was dreading getting out in. She was dreading going in and forcing a fake smile to some of the people she had come to know since her friend moved here. It was going to the be the same sympathetic eyes and questions of if she was okay. Most of the time it didn't bother her but today was different especially since she really didn't want to talk to anyone. But maybe she could get lucky and not see anyone she really knew all that well in the lobby or the elevator.

With that thought she opened her car door and got out while opening her umbrella. She shut her door and locked the car before making her way to the building quickly. She just wanted out of the rain and to her friend's apartment where she could sit back and relax or breakdown if she needed to. Her friend was the only person who she had let see her completely breakdown after her husband's death. The only person who didn't try to push her into moving on while she wasn't ready and who she could tell everything to. Reaching the building Stephanie waited as someone came out of the door and started running to their car before she made her way inside. She closed her umbrella and immediately spotted one of her friend's neighbors Stacy who she talked to a lot. Stacy hadn't noticed her yet though and she thought about trying to make a run to the elevators to avoid her but as she started to walk to it she heard her name being called. Taking a breath, she turned back in Stacy's direction as the tall blonde made her way closer to her.

"Stephanie. How are you doing today?" Stacy asked softly. Her blue eyes full of pity as she reached out and touched the side of her arm sympathetically. She hated when people looked at her like that.

"I'm good" Stephanie replied forcing the best smile she could. Hopefully Stacy didn't see how fake it was.

"Are you sure?" Stacy asked tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah I'm sure. I'm just running late to dinner but I'll catch up with you some other time" Stephanie replied and hurried off to the elevator not giving Stacy a chance to say anything else. She pushed the button to the elevator and waited for it to open. It wasn't long before it opened and she stepped on and pushed the button for her friend's floor.

When the elevators stopped and opened again she stepped out and headed down to her friend's apartment door ignoring the people in the hall. She hung her head down and just watched the floor in front of her as she walked until she made it to her destination. She opened the door quickly and walked in setting her umbrella down in the corner.

"Hey Steph" she shut the door and looked over to see her friend's boyfriend standing in the living room with a small smile on his face. She also noticed he was holding what looked to be a small nerf ball that probably belong to her friend's nephew.

"Hey Sam" Stephanie replied with a small smile of her own. Her friend and Sam had been dating for a couple of months now. So far he seemed to be a nice guy and he was warm and friendly to her so that made him okay in her book. Plus, he made her friend happy and she was sure her friend was falling for him. "Jess in the kitchen."

"Is that her?" Stephanie heard Jess yell from the kitchen.

"No it's some stranger I decided to invite in" Sam called back before he started to chuckle. Then he threw the ball in his hands over to the couch and that was when Stephanie noticed a guy sitting on the couch chuckling too. It was someone she had definitely never met before or seen around here in the apartment building. Then she started to wonder if Jess had been so insistent on her coming for dinner because she was trying to set her up. Here she was thinking her best friend wasn't going to push her into moving on or anything and now she wasn't so sure. She was going to be so pissed if that was what she is trying to do.

"It's me" Stephanie said walking through the archway of the kitchen to see the back of Jess's blonde hair as she stood at the stove cooking. When Jess heard Stephanie's voice she turned around and smiled at her.

"I was starting to think you were going to blow me off"

"No because you would have called and bugged me until I caved and came anyway" Stephanie replied walking over the kitchen table and pulling out a chair to sit in.

"Yeah I would have" Jess said nodding her head "are they still in there throwing that damn ball?"

Before Stephanie even had a chance to answer she heard something crash in the other room. Stephanie watched as Jess's green eyes filled with anger before she rushed into the next room. She couldn't help but chuckle a little, her friend's temper could be amusing at times. There were times though she could really put the fear in you with it too.

"Didn't I tell you to stop throwing the damn ball before you broke something?"

"We were only trying to have a little fun" a deep voice said that Stephanie knew wasn't Sam's.

"Just leave the ball alone."

A couple of minutes later Jess came back into the kitchen clearly irritated and went back over to the stove checking on the food. Stephanie decided she might as well question her friend on the guy she didn't know and find out if she was trying to set her up. If she was then Stephanie wasn't sticking around for dinner.

"So who's that guy?" Stephanie asked fiddling with her wedding rings on her hand.

"He is Sam's friend. This is the first time I'm meeting him. Apparently Sam invited him because he wanted to meet me since Sam is spending so much time with me"

"You and Sam have been dating for a couple of months now. Why is he just now wanting to meet you?" Stephanie asked confused watching her friend stir the food on the stove.

"I don't know" Jess shrugged "maybe he didn't think Sam was that serious about me or something."

"So this isn't some sort of set up between me and him?" Stephanie asked blatantly making Jess turn around with wide eyes and stare at her.

"God no. I would never do that to you. You should know that. I'm not your mother, no offence to her. It's just I know how pushy she has been lately" Jess replied and Stephanie just nodded her head. Thank God she had been wrong about her friend's intentions because if she had been right, well she didn't know who else she would be able to talk to. She would of given Jess the cold shoulder for a while.

"Okay just making sure. Today has been hard enough without something like that happening. I'm too afraid to answer most of my mother's calls because I'm afraid she is going to start going on and on about how it's time to find someone new"

"You will find someone eventually when you feel you are ready to. Nobody can make that decision for you and it's just going to take time for you" Jess replied turning back around to check on the food.

"I wish my mother understood that" Stephanie said with a sigh. By the time she got back out to the car where she had left her phone there would probably be God knows how many missed calls from her mother. Maybe she should have called her before coming here so her mother wouldn't freak and start calling hospitals when she couldn't reach her.

Lost in her thoughts Stephanie didn't even realize someone else had joined her at the kitchen table until she noticed them out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to look at them and their eyes met. It was Sam's friend and she kind of felt uncomfortable as he stared into her eyes.

"Hey" he greeted her with a smile.

"Hey" Stephanie replied awkwardly with a polite smile.

"I'm Paul" he said continuing to stare at her "and you would be?"

"Stephanie"

"Leave her alone Paul" Jess warned in a stern voice and Stephanie turned her attention to Jess who was staring at Paul with a stern look on her face also. She was kind of glad for her friend's interruption because she was getting uncomfortable with him just staring at her.

"Why don't you just give me a chance instead of giving me all these rules? I feel like that is all you are doing"

"Paul I'm trying but since you got to my house I've told you to stop doing something more times than I ever have to tell my six-year-old nephew. I mean he listens better than you"

"I'm a good listener. Here I'll give you an example" Paul replied and then she felt him lean closer to her "so tell me a little about yourself"

"Paul seriously leave her alone" Stephanie heard Sam say as he came into the kitchen and took a seat at the table in front of Paul.

Stephanie looked down at her hands feeling awkward and playing with her wedding rings again. God she missed her husband Brent right now. It was moments like these that she wasn't sure if she would ever move on because when some guy hit on her it just took her back to missing Brent even more.

"Food is ready" Jess announced breaking Stephanie out of her thoughts. She raised her head from staring at her wedding rings and happened to look over at Paul. He was now sitting there quiet and staring at her hands which confused her until she realized he was staring at her rings like she had been. "Guys I'm not making your plates of food for you too."

Everyone started chuckling and finally got up to fix their plate of food.

* * *

"That was pretty good Jess" Paul said patting his stomach.

"Thank you Paul" Jess replied with a smile.

They were all now sitting on the couch in the living room relaxing after dinner. Stephanie had started to feel a little more comfortable now. Maybe it was because Paul hadn't tried hitting on her anymore or stared at her. Somewhere through dinner she had relaxed and started to enjoy her friend's company. It was pretty funny to watch Jess and Paul interact with each other though because it seemed like Paul was purposely trying to annoy Jess. There was also Paul and Sam's interactions too which had made her laugh. It was a nice change to laugh instead of cry or feel sad but it also made her feel guilty that she was laughing today of all days.

"So where did that ball go?" Paul asked with an amused smile on his face as Jess narrowed her eyes at him.

"Somewhere you won't find it" Jess replied grabbing the remote to the television and turning it on.

"Oh I could find it" Paul said stretching his legs out and sinking back further into the leather couch. "But I'm too full to go searching and too comfortable."

"I seriously have to get that ball back to Aaron" Jess replied talking about her nephew.

"I bet he gets to play with it in here" Paul joked turning his attention to the television as Jess flipped through the channels.

"God Paul you are like a kid" Jess replied shaking her head and finally settled on a romance movie to watch.

"No, no not happening" Paul said shaking his head and getting up from the couch. There was no way he was sitting there watching this garbage. His friend might have to because it was his girlfriend but he wasn't watching it.

"What's wrong with it?" Jess asked crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"It's a romance movie. That's what is wrong with it. You do realize that half of the shit in these doesn't happen in real life?"

"You do realize that half of the shit in your action and horror movies don't happen in real life too, right?" Jess asked raising her eyebrow and stared at him.

"At least it's entertaining" Paul replied with a shrug. "Well it was fun. Up until now so thanks for dinner and Sam I'll see you later."

"I think I'm going to go too" Stephanie said getting up from the couch. It was the perfect opportunity for her to get out of watching it too. Usually she loved watching romance movies but she couldn't handle it today and if Paul got to leave then why shouldn't she get to too? Besides she just wanted to go home and be by herself for a while.

"Seriously Steph?" Jess asked bummed that her friend wanted to leave too.

"See she's a girl and she doesn't even want to watch it" Paul said pointing at Stephanie.

"Shut up Paul" Jess replied giving him a dirty look. She had a feeling why Stephanie didn't want to stick around and watch it. She actually had a good excuse of why though.

"I just kind of want to get home" Stephanie replied with a shrug.

"Okay well you will call me when you get home right?" Jess asked and Stephanie nodded her head. "Let Paul walk you to your car."

Stephanie looked at Jess weird wondering why Jess wanted her to let Paul walk her to the car. She watched as Jess got up from the couch and came over to her before pulling her to the door.

"It's not what you think. I don't like you walking alone to your car at night" Jess whispered.

"Nothing has ever happened before when I did it"

"I would feel better if you let Paul walk you to your car"

"Fine" Stephanie replied rolling her eyes as her friend smiled at her.

"You don't mind walking Steph to her car do you Paul?" Jess asked in a sweet voice as he approached them by the door.

"Uh I guess not" Paul replied with a shrug as Stephanie grabbed her umbrella from where she had sat it earlier.

"Great. I'll see you later" Jess said pulling Stephanie into a hug and then turned to Paul. "It was nice meeting you. I think"

"Aww" Paul replied putting his hand on his chest. "You too."

Stephanie chuckled before opening the door and walking out. She waved to her friend one last time before heading to the elevator with Paul following behind her. After pushing the button for the elevator they stood there in kind of an awkward silence waiting for the elevator. Neither one of them not really knowing what to say to the other. It was kind of weird for her because he had been the first one to talk to her earlier and he didn't seem to have a problem talking to Jess who he had just met.

When the elevator doors opened and stepped in Paul was feeling awkward at the silence but he didn't want to say anything. He was afraid he couldn't stop himself from hitting on her and she was clearly a taken woman. So the only thing he knew to do was keep his mouth shut because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. When he had first saw her walk the through the door of the apartment tonight he hadn't been able to stop himself from staring at her. That had changed really fast for him though after he noticed her wedding ring and couldn't help but feel disappointed. She was a beautiful woman after all, did he really expect for her to be single? He did wonder why her husband hadn't joined them for dinner though but he didn't dare ask. He shook his head clearing his thoughts as the elevator doors opened again and they headed into the lobby.

Stephanie was relieved when they had made it into the lobby and quickly walked through it making it outside to where her car which wasn't far away. The rain had stopped which she was grateful for because she hated being in it or driving in it.

"This is me" Stephanie said breaking the silence when they reached her car. "Thanks for walking me to my car."

"No problem" Paul replied giving her a smile as she unlocked her door and opened it. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too" Stephanie said with a nod.

"Maybe we'll see each other again sometime" Paul replied watching her get into her car.

"I'm sure we will" Stephanie said with a chuckle. "Well bye Paul."

"Bye Stephanie" Paul replied watching her shut her door before heading off to his own car hoping that he would see her again. He knew she was a married woman but he couldn't help but want to see her again. Maybe they could at least be friends, well if he could actually talk to her without making an ass out of himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the review and to those who have followed the story. Here's the next chapter hopefully you like it!

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It had been a couple of weeks since the anniversary of Brent's death and Stephanie was feeling a little better since that day. She didn't feel so depressed but that had been replaced with anxiety and fear because a couple of nights ago she had been watching television when she heard a knock on her door. When she opened it she was greeted by her next door neighbor that she was good friends with and they had wondered if she had heard or seen anything since she had been home. Honestly she hadn't because she had come straight home from work and turned on some music while she tidied up her house. After that she sat down with a glass of wine and decided to relax while watching some television. It turned out that her neighbor's home had been broken into while they had been gone. They promised they would be watching out for her in case the burglar came back into the neighborhood before leaving but she was completely freaked out. So for the last couple of nights she hadn't got very much sleep because every time she would close her eyes she would hear a noise. She was exhausted and it seemed like everything frustrated her which didn't help with work since she was a first grade teacher. Today was the worst, she really had to make sure to keep calm when her patience had dwindled with the students.

Now she was maneuvering her cart through the aisle around people as they stopped and looked around on the shelf for the item of food they were looking for. She hadn't even wanted to come grocery shopping but she was running low on food and she had put it off for as long as she could. She was terrified to leave her house in case it was broken into but then again she was terrified of being there too. Letting out a frustrated sigh as the people in front of her just stopped dead in the middle of the aisle to talk to someone they apparently knew she bit her tongue and went around the side of them. Yeah today was not a good day for this she really should have come a couple of days ago. When she made it to the end of the aisle she stopped and picked up a couple of things she needed off the shelf and tossed them in her cart. She started to push her cart forward and she turned her head back to the shelf to make sure that was all she needed when suddenly she felt her cart crash into something. Then the sound of carts clashing together brought her attention to back in front of her. Shit. Hopefully the person didn't get a snotty attitude with her because she was sure she would snap. Pulling her cart back so the person could keep going forward she forced an apologetic smile on her face for the stranger. When they came into view though it wasn't a stranger at all. Her eyes locked on to a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

"Hey" Paul greeted her with a smile.

"Hey" Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief knowing he wouldn't go off on her. At least she hoped not. They weren't strangers but they weren't exactly friends either though. They had only met that one time a couple of weeks ago and honestly she was surprised she hadn't seen him since. Then again it wasn't like she spent all of her time at Jess's so he could have been there at times she wasn't.

"How have you been?" Paul asked as she took in his appearance. He had his hair down and he had one side of it tucked behind his ear. He was wearing a white shirt that showed off his muscular frame and a pair of jeans. Was this really the same man? She didn't remember him being this attractive but then again she had tried to keep her attention on anything but him because of how uncomfortable she had felt. Wait. Why was she even thinking like this?

"I've been as good as I can be" Stephanie replied with a shrug turning her attention to a person coming up beside of her. They were muttering how rude it was to stand in the way to stand and talk to someone. It made her blood boil when she saw it was the same person who had stopped right in front of her to talk to someone they had known.

"I guess we irritated that person" Paul said with a laugh as the woman made it out of the aisle.

"Yeah well they can get over it seeing that they did the same thing" Stephanie said loudly with attitude so the woman could hear her.

"Looks like someone is not in a good mood today" Paul replied chuckling at her. He thought she was beautiful before but looking at her now with her pissed off look she looked even sexier to him. Today she had a little more makeup on than she had when he first met her and her hair had some loose curls in it coming down past her shoulders. She wore a short sleeved light blue button up shirt with a black skirt that reached her knees. He watched as she finally looked back over to him, her blue eyes locking onto his.

"You could say I'm a little irritated"

"Just a little huh?" Paul teased and she smiled a little making his heart accelerate. God she was even more beautiful when she smiled and he had to remind himself she was a married woman. If he didn't watch himself, he would start flirting with her again.

"Okay maybe more than a little" Stephanie replied feeling the irritation from the woman slip away. "Well I'm sorry to cut this short but I really need to finish up shopping."

"I understand" Paul replied with a nod.

"Maybe we'll see each other again soon."

"Yeah maybe" Paul said feeling a little disappointed they couldn't talk for longer. The last time she said they would probably see each other again was a couple of weeks ago and they were just seeing each other now. He had spent a lot of time with Sam lately over at Jess's and he hadn't seen her. But then again she probably had more of a life then he did at the moment and she did have a husband to spend time with.

"Bye Paul" Stephanie replied moving her cart around his to get out of the aisle she was in.

"Bye Stephanie."

Stephanie walked quickly from the building to her car pushing the cart across the parking lot. She was in a hurry because as she was shopping she had got a call from Jess asking what time her and Sam should come over to her house. That was when she remembered that she told Jess last night that they could come to her house for dinner. So she told her to give her at least fifteen to twenty minutes to get home from grocery shopping and they could come over and Jess could help her cook. She wasn't really feeling up to cooking but she would have to do it anyway and Jess had been overprotective of her since she had told her about the neighbor's being robbed. Jess hadn't wanted her to be alone but honestly being alone was something she was going to have to deal with. She wasn't entirely used to it yet, there were days she still watched the door hoping for Brent to walk in and it all of it just have been a very horrible dream.

Once she reached her car she opened the trunk and started loading her bags of groceries into the car. The wind blew slightly causing some strands of hair to blow in her face. She quickly tucked it behind her ear and carried on as another slight breeze came through chilling her skin a little. It had just turned spring and while it was warmer outside the wind still was cool causing her to feel cold at times.

"Here let me help you" Stephanie heard a familiar voice and she glanced behind her to see Paul pushing his cart up beside of her.

"Thanks but you don't have to" Stephanie replied as he reached into her cart and grabbed some of her bags.

"It's fine. I just want to help you out" Paul said giving her a smile before putting the bags into her trunk. She just stood there letting her eyes travel over his muscular body. He really did have a nice body. Oh God what was with her? Her hormones must be on overdrive today along with her frustration. It had been a long time since she had had sex but honestly it had been the last thing on her mind since Brent's death. Plus, she had a drawer in her bedroom with some toys for times when she felt that need. She shook those thoughts from her head and started grabbing bags from the cart again so he wouldn't catch her just standing there staring at him.

"Thanks" Stephanie replied once they had loaded all of the groceries in her car and she shut the trunk of the car.

"You're welcome" Paul said going back over to his cart. "Well I guess I better get going. I have to think about what I want to cook for dinner tonight still and then I actually have to cook it."

"Um… well Jess and Sam are coming over to my house for dinner if you want to join us. You could just follow me to my house" Stephanie offered and she wasn't even sure why but she had already offered now.

"Are you sure?" Paul asked her and she nodded her head but then she noticed his groceries in his cart. She had completely forgot he had done shopping of his own.

"Oh I totally forgot you have your own groceries that you will need to put up."

"It's fine. I only got a couple of things that need to be refrigerated and I could store them in your refrigerator for the time being. I mean if that's okay"

"Yeah that would be fine" Stephanie replied taking her empty cart and pushing over to where the other empty carts were.

"Okay then I'll just load my groceries into my car and then I'll follow you. I'm right over there" Paul pointed over to his car which was just over in the next aisle. She would have a clear view of him from her car so she would be able to see when he was done and ready to leave.

"I'll just wait in my car" Stephanie said before making her way back over to her car unlocking it and getting in. Why had she invited someone over to house that she didn't even know that well? Sure he was Sam's best friend but she didn't know anything about Paul or what kind of person he was. He seemed really nice but what if it was all an act? It was too late now and it wasn't like she would be at her house very long by herself and if someone did try and break in her house well she was sure Paul could take them.

Paul loaded his groceries into his car wondering what exactly he had got himself into. He had practically jumped at the chance to spend time around her but the bad part was it was at her house. Where her husband would be and now he just felt awkward and like a horrible person because he was clearly attracted to Stephanie. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try and be friends with Stephanie since he was attracted to her. He wouldn't be the kind of guy to try and go after a married woman. Even though he was pretty sure she wasn't the type of girl to break her vows anyway. He would just go to her house for dinner tonight and be friendly when he saw her but that would be as far as it would go. No matter how badly he wanted to be friends with her. He wasn't sure he could trust himself around her.

* * *

Paul pulled into her driveway behind her and parked his car. He shut off the engine and looked at the white house in front of him. It wasn't very big but it wasn't small either and over on the left side of the house there was a porch swing. It looked pretty nice on the outside and he was sure it was just as nice on the inside. He opened his door when he noticed she was already out of her car opening the trunk of her car to get her groceries.

"I'll get the groceries, you go ahead and unlock your door" Paul suggested and she just nodded her head then took off to the front door of the house.

"Hey Steph" Paul heard a male voice call from the left of him. He turned his head to see a blonde haired man that was maybe in his thirties standing in the yard next door looking at Stephanie with a smile on his face as he waved at her.

"Hey Tristian" Paul heard her call back at the man before a little boy with blonde hair ran up to the guy and wrapped his arms around his legs.

Paul then turned his attention back to the groceries getting out as many as he could carry into the house so he wouldn't have to make too many trips back to the car. He carried the bags to the house and Stephanie showed him the way to the kitchen and took them from him so he could get the rest.

After he got all the bags from her car he went to his and grabbed the bags of his that needed refrigerated and took them inside. When he got back to the kitchen Stephanie was busy putting away her food so he sat the other bags on her counter and grabbed his food to put in the refrigerator.

"You can go ahead back to the living room and make yourself comfortable. The remote to the television should be on the table" Stephanie said glancing at him before returning her attention back to the groceries.

"Okay" Paul replied leaving the kitchen. He didn't want to be in her way so he would just wait for her to be done. He was surprised that her husband wasn't already there and he hoped that Jess and Sam would make it there before her husband did. At least then it wouldn't be awkward when her husband did come home because he wasn't sure how it would look if he came home to find Stephanie alone with him.

He pushed the thoughts away as he made it to the living room and noticed the pictures hanging on her wall. There was a couple of her and a guy he was sure was her husband. The guy had short dark hair and blue eyes and he was clean shaven. They were both smiling widely and they looked completely in love with each other.

"That's my husband Brent" Stephanie said startling him slightly and he turned around to face her. She was staring at the picture he had been looking at just now. She stared at it with a loving smile but in her eyes he could see they held a little bit of sadness. He was curious as to why but he wasn't going to ask. "I came in here to ask you if you wanted something to drink."

"No I'm fine for now" Paul replied shaking his head and turning his attention away from the pictures. He looked over to the table and saw the remote to the television. He grabbed it off the table and sat down on the couch as Stephanie headed back to the kitchen.

Stephanie busied herself in the kitchen putting the groceries away trying to keep her mind off of Brent for the moment because she knew she would start crying. She didn't want to break down in front of Paul who she barely knew and have him asking questions she didn't want to answer. It would probably make her cry even harder.

As soon as she was done putting the last thing of her groceries away Stephanie heard the door open and for a moment she panicked until she heard her best friend's voice.

"Paul what are you doing here?" Jess asked as Stephanie made her way to the living room to see Jess and Sam looking at Paul.

"I ran into him while grocery shopping and I invited him to dinner with us" Stephanie answered for Paul.

"Okay then" Jess replied "let's get to cooking this dinner because I am starving."

"Make yourself comfortable Sam" Stephanie said before making her way back to the kitchen while Jess followed behind her.

"So how are you today? Were you able to get any sleep last night?" Jess asked pulling out stuff to cook the food with.

"I'm beyond frustrated and no I wasn't able to sleep good. When I finally felt calm and safe a big rumble of thunder came which I was not expecting and it scared me. I kept waking up on and off after I was finally able to fall asleep" Stephanie replied grabbing the food she planned on fixing.

"So um…." Jess trailed off and started tapping her fingers on the counter. It was one of Jess's nervous habits and it looked like she was nervous to say whatever was on her mind.

"Just spit it out" Stephanie replied as Jess stopped tapping her fingers and looked at her.

"Is there something going on between you and Paul?"

"What?" Stephanie asked her eyes going wide. "No. I told you I bumped into him and he was talking about how he had to go home and cook. So I just thought I would invite him since he is Sam's friend and you two were coming here for dinner. That's it."

"Okay, okay, it was just a question" Jess held up her hands before turning her attention back to getting the food prepared.

"If anything ever does happen with any guy you will be the first to know" Stephanie replied knowing that it wouldn't be any time soon though. "And then my mother."

They both chuckled at the last part and continued to prepare the dinner.

* * *

They all sat outside in the backyard on Stephanie's patio after dinner just talking and enjoying the last part of the day as the sun started to set. It was beautiful outside but the temperature had started to drop. Stephanie didn't mind though as the house had started to feel a little warm. It could have been the alcohol though since she had been drinking.

Stephanie lifted her glass of wine to her lips and took a drink as everyone else sat around laughing at some joke Paul had made. She wondered if anyone was starting to feel tipsy as she was starting to feel. Jess had been drinking wine with her while the guys had opted for beer that she kept for times when Sam came with Jess to her house. Jess or her didn't care for the taste of beer.

"Tonight has been fun" Jess said before taking a drink of her wine.

"That's because I'm here" Paul replied with a laugh.

"A little full of yourself huh Paul?"

"No I'm just stating the truth" Paul replied taking a drink of his beer and Jess rolled her eyes.

"I have fun without you around Paul. Especially when I'm with Sam" Jess said looking over at Sam with a smile on her face and he leaned over giving her kiss on the lips. Stephanie couldn't help but feel a little sad she no longer had someone to share things like this with. She missed being able to look at Brent or kiss his lips and him hold her at night and making her feel safe.

"Eww get a room" Paul replied with a disgusted look on his face before turning his attention to her and gave her a small smile. Jess and Sam ignored him though. "So Stephanie since we don't know each other that well tell me a little about yourself."

"Well I'm a first grade teacher. I love kids" Stephanie replied smiling at the thought of her students. Today they had tested her patience but only because she was so exhausted. She really loved her students. "I think education is very important so when I thought about what I wanted to do I knew it was teaching children."

"Yeah I love my niece and nephew. I want to have kids of my own someday when I finally find someone to settle down with. What about you and your husband? Do you two plan on having kids sometime soon?" Paul asked and Stephanie turned her head away quickly. Jess and Sam had finally stopped being all over each other and were now sitting there staring at him awkwardly. Did he do something wrong? Was that too personal since they didn't know each other that well?

"Um my… Brent… isn't here anymore" Stephanie replied before getting up from her chair. That was all she could say or she knew she would break down.

Paul watched as she walked away back inside the house and Jess got up quickly and followed her. Shit. Had he made her cry? It sounded like it and he felt awful. He still didn't really understand what she had meant by what she said though. He looked over at Sam who was still looking at him.

"I forgot to mention it because it slipped my mind and I didn't want to mention it the day you met her but uh… her husband passed away last year" Sam said and suddenly her crying made sense to him. He really felt like shit now.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the reviews :) They are very much appreciated and I'm glad you are enjoying this story so far. I feel like it's kind of a slow start but it should be picking up more after this chapter so I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Paul pulled his car up into the driveway and shut the car off. He stared ahead at the white house in front of him hoping it didn't seem weird for him to just show up at her house. Last night after Stephanie took off and Sam explained to him that her husband had died last year he had felt like an idiot. So he got up from his seat and went into the house to apologize but Jess or Stephanie wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Instead of feeling uncomfortable by searching through her house for her he had decided to head back outside and sit with Sam until she came back out. About twenty minutes later her and Jess joined them back outside. Her eyes had been puffy and red still which made him feel even worse. He apologized to her but she had told him not to worry about it that it wasn't his fault that he didn't know about Brent. He still felt like shit though even today, he couldn't get it off his mind. The apology last night just didn't seem enough so here he was now at her house after buying her some flowers. Now that he was here though he was feeling nervous about how she would react to him coming to her house.

He sighed and looked over to his left to see the same blonde haired man he seen yesterday while he was helping Stephanie with her groceries. The guy quickly averted his attention elsewhere when Paul caught him staring and Paul grabbed the flowers out of the seat beside of him before getting out of the car. He didn't want to sit there looking sketchy to the guy and have the cops possibly called on him. He shut the door to his car and made his way up to her door and knocked. A couple of seconds later he heard the door unlock and she opened the door just enough to peek outside before she opened the door all the way.

"Hey Paul" Stephanie greeted him with a small smile. "What brings you by my house?"

"I feel like a complete idiot still about last night and I know I apologized but I just don't feel like it was enough. So I bought some flowers for you and I wanted to come by and apologize again" Paul explained holding up the flowers and feeling like a complete idiot even further.

"You didn't have to do that Paul. I'm not mad at you, I promise. You had no idea about what happened."

"I know but I really am sorry. Will you accept my apology?" Paul asked holding out the flowers for her to take.

"I will accept your apology again but please don't beat yourself up about it anymore" Stephanie replied reaching out and taking the flowers from him. As she did her fingers brushed against his and she could have sworn she felt something. But then again she could have accidently shocked him considering that had been happening all day to her.

"Well I'll try not to beat myself up about it. I guess I'll uh see you later" Paul said before turning to walk away.

"Paul wait" Stephanie called just as he stepped off the porch and he turned back around to face her. "I'm eating leftovers from last night and there is plenty more if you want to join me. I mean it's the least I could do after you drove here to apologize again."

"As long as you'll forgive me again if I end up putting my foot in my mouth again" Paul chuckled and Stephanie let out a chuckle of her own and nodded her head.

"Come on in and I'll make you plate" Stephanie replied stepping away from the door. When he walked in he was greeted by the cool air of the room. He hadn't realized how warm it actually was outside until now. "You can go ahead to the couch and sit down."

He watched her walk away before heading over to couch and sat down. His attention went to the television where she had been watching some sort of trashy reality tv show. He shook his head at the absurdity of it and remembered how his ex-girlfriend Rachael used to love these kind of shows too. She would always be watching them when he came home from work and he would just try to ignore them. Hopefully she made that douchebag that she calls her boyfriend now watch them but as soon as he thought that he mentally scolded himself. She wasn't what he wanted to think about right now or ever again really. What happened with them was six months ago and he was moving on with his life.

"Here you go" Paul heard Stephanie as she came into view holding a plate of food.

"Thanks" Paul replied taking the plate from her and she took a seat next to him. He started digging into his food and watched as she picked up her plate from the coffee table.

"Any request on what to watch?" Stephanie asked picking the remote to the television up.

"It's your house you can watch this if you want" Paul replied once he swallowed his bite of food.

"I don't watch this kind of stuff. I just came in and turned the tv on and this was on. I wasn't really paying attention to it I just basically had it on for the noise." Which was something she found herself doing a lot just so she wouldn't sit and be paranoid about every little sound she heard. At least she was able to get somewhat of a good sleep last night.

"What kind of stuff do you usually watch?"

"Mostly comedies now days. I've been steering away from the romance stuff but I do watch some romantic movies when I'm in the mood. I definitely stay away from any horror shows or movies. I'm way too much of a chicken for them"

"Any kind of comedy sounds good to watch then. I'm really not that picky" Paul replied watching the tv as she flipped through the channels. After finally settling on a channel there was a knock on the door and Stephanie sighed putting her plate back down on the coffee table.

"I guess I'm pretty popular today" Stephanie said before getting up and walking over to the door. She opened it slightly to see her next door neighbor Tristian and he smiled as he seen her.

"Hey" Stephanie greeted him opening the door slightly further curious and nervous as to why he was here. The last he was here he had told her about his wife Karen and him being robbed. She really hoped nothing else had happened.

"Hey I thought I would come over and check on you. I just want to make sure you are doing okay" Tristian replied peering over her shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine. Have you found out anything more on the person who broke into your home?"

"No we haven't heard anything but hopefully he or she doesn't come back. Me and Karen have been keeping a look out for you though"

"Thanks I really appreciate you guys" Stephanie replied with a polite smile.

"You're welcome. Well if you need anything at all we are right next door so don't hesitate to come over if you need us"

"I'll keep that in mind" Stephanie said with a nod as Tristian gave a small wave goodbye and she closed the door. She went back over to her spot on the couch when she noticed Paul was chuckling. "What is so funny?"

"That guy was staring at me earlier when I pulled into the driveway. I guess he thought I might be some kind of threat to you. It's just a little amusing to me I guess" Paul replied taking another bite of his food and Stephanie sat back down on the couch picking back up her own plate of food.

"Him and his wife just look out of for me since Brent passed away. We're pretty good friends so I guess since you're someone they haven't really seen come to my house they got a little worried" Stephanie shrugged and took a bite of her food which was starting to become a little cold.

"So how long were you and Brent together for? If you don't mind me asking"

"We dated for four years before getting married and then we were married for two years. We had actually talked about starting a family of our own before the accident and that is why last night's question got to me"

"Now I really do feel like shit" Paul winced and she reached out and touched his arm but let her hand drop once she felt the same feeling she had earlier when their fingers brushed against each other's.

"Don't. It's really not your fault" Stephanie reassured him before going back to eating her food. Her heart rate had accelerated lightly from touching him and she was starting to wonder why she felt like she did whenever she touched him. It was something she had never experienced before from just a simple touch.

"I really am sorry"

"I know" Stephanie nodded her head "so you asked me to tell you something about myself last night and I did but I never got to ask you the same question."

"Well I don't know if it's obvious but I like to workout"

"No I would have never guessed" Stephanie replied pretending to be shocked as Paul chuckled.

"Been checking me out huh?" Paul joked but then his eyes widened a little when he realized how that came off a little flirty. "That was just a joke."

"I know" Stephanie chuckled but she felt herself flush because she had checked him out just yesterday. Then today she couldn't help but notice how good he looked with his hair tied back too. Then the way his muscles looked in the black shirt that had some kind of graphic on the front. He really was an attractive man. "Tell me something a little more personal, it's only fair. When was your last relationship? Or are you seeing someone now?"

"No I'm not seeing anyone right now. My last relationship was six months ago" Paul replied taking a bite of his food. He really didn't want to talk about his last relationship but seeing how Stephanie opened up about hers and hers had ended way worse than his it was only fair he did the same.

"How long was the relationship?"

"We were together for three years and I was thinking about proposing to her but then I found her cheating on me" Paul explained as Stephanie's eyes widened.

"Now I guess it's my turn to apologize"

"Nope because then we will never stop apologizing to each other and how are we supposed to get to know one another if we keep doing that?"

"Good point" Stephanie replied with a laugh.

* * *

After they were done eating Stephanie loaded their dishes into the dishwasher with the rest of the dirty dishes she would have to start later as Paul excused himself to the bathroom. She had to admit with Paul being there to talk to it took a lot of things off of her mind. He was easy to talk to and she found herself laughing a lot. They had got to know each other a little better as they chatted about a little bit of everything about their lives. She could see her and Paul becoming good friends, he really did seem like a nice guy.

Stephanie pulled out a glass and poured herself some wine after shutting the door to the dishwasher. Then she went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for Paul if he wanted it. She sat them down on the counter before going back into the living room to grab her black cardigan. It was nice outside and she felt like going out to the patio but where it was starting to get a little late in the day she knew it would start getting a little cool soon. So she wanted to have it and be prepared so she didn't have to run back inside to get it.

"Going somewhere?" Paul asked coming back into the living room.

"I thought we could head outside to the patio. I go out there a lot once winter is over because I hate just sitting inside doing nothing but watching tv. Unless you have somewhere else to be now" Stephanie replied draping her cardigan on the side of her arm.

"That sounds good. I have nowhere else to be"

"Let's go then" Stephanie said walking back into the kitchen and picked up her glass of wine. "I got a beer out for you if you want it."

She watched him walk over and pick the beer up and then they both walked over to the glass sliding door that led to the patio. Stephanie stepped outside and immediately felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. She walked over to one of the chairs on the patio and hung her cardigan on the back of it before sitting down. Then she crossed one leg over the other and watched Paul walk over to a chair in front of hers. He sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him taking a sip of his beer.

"So how long have you known Sam?" Stephanie asked taking a drink of her wine.

"Uh oh. Is this one of those things where you try to get information about Sam to make sure he's good enough for your best friend?"

"No. I know Sam is a great guy. I'm just curious about how long you two have known each other and how you became friends"

"I've known him for about ten years now. We met through a mutual friend, at the time anyway. Sam and him knew each other from work and would talk at work. The friend decided he wanted to go to this bar for his birthday to celebrate and he invited Sam. Sam and I got to talking and well we just became pretty fast friends and the rest is history" Paul smiled at the memory before pointing at her "What about you and Jess?"

"Nine years. We met during college. There isn't really a story there. We were both pretty shy at the time and I think that was what actually bonded us together in the beginning"

"Jess was shy? That's hard to believe" Paul laughed and took another drink of his beer. He didn't even think he could imagine that but Stephanie being shy wasn't hard to believe. She still seemed shy at times to him at least.

"Yeah I know" Stephanie chuckled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Her cellphone began to ring after that and she reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled it out. Linda's name was on the screen and she hit the volume button to stop the ringtone from playing and slipped it back into her pocket.

"Avoiding someone or is it because I'm here?"

"Both. It was my mom I'll call her back later"

"Dodging your mom huh? Do you not have a good relationship with her?" Paul asked taking another drink of his beer as he waited for her response.

"We have a good relationship. It's just for the last couple of months she's been very pushy on me getting back out and dating. I just don't feel like I'm ready for that"

"Oh so you haven't been out on a date since your husband passed away"

"Nope" Stephanie replied shaking her head. "What about you? Have you been back out dating since your ex?"

"Yeah I've been out on some dates. I just haven't found anything serious with any of them and that's why I'm still single" Paul replied with a shrug.

"How did you do it?" Stephanie asked and he looked at her with a confused expression. "How did you just move on? Because for me it just feels so hard."

"Well I guess for me her cheating on me gave me more incentive in some weird way. I wasn't going to let her see me miserable and moping over her. I was angry and wanted to forget her and put it all behind me. Yours is different because you lost someone you loved and it wasn't in yours or Brent's control" Paul explained as Stephanie nodded her head "one day you will be able to try and move on. Everyone moves on in their own time and for some it takes longer than others."

"That's what Jess keeps telling me. I think one of the things that stops me is that I'm afraid that I'm not going to feel even half of what I felt for Brent towards another guy or that they might not treat me as good. There is also the guilt I feel for even thinking about another guy. I know it's weird"

"You have a right to feel whatever way you want about it. To be honest though you will never know what you can feel until you actually try"

"I don't know when that will be though" Stephanie replied with a small sigh.

"And that's fine. Nobody is telling you that you have to go out with someone tomorrow well unless your mom does when you call her back later" Paul replied and Stephanie smiled before letting out a chuckle. "But that doesn't mean that you have to. You'll know when you're ready."

"It's really nice talking to you Paul. I don't think I've ever talked about this with anyone other than Jess because everyone else just looks at me like it's been a year move on already" Stephanie said waving her hand before lifting her other hand and taking a drink of her wine.

"It's nice talking to you too and I wouldn't look at you like that. I know we just have started to get to know each other but if you ever need someone to talk to I'll be here for you" Paul offered with a smile.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome"

After talking for a little while longer and Linda calling once again Paul decided he should probably get going so she could call her back. So she got up from her chair and grabbed her cardigan that she ended up not even needing in the end and walked back inside locking the sliding door behind them. Then she walked him to the front door.

"Thank you for the flowers and the conversation. I had a nice time" Stephanie said as Paul opened the front door.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad I didn't put my foot in my mouth this time"

"I would have forgiven you anyway" Stephanie laughed as he walked out onto the porch.

"That's nice to know. Well I'll see you soon hopefully"

"I'm sure we will" Stephanie replied as he walked off the porch and Stephanie happened to look next door where she seen Tristian walking around on his lawn with his cellphone to his ear. She watched as Tristian stopped and looked at Paul and Paul must have noticed him too because he gave him a small wave. Then Paul opened his car door and looked back at her with an amused smile on his face. She chuckled remembering earlier when Paul was laughing about Tristian because Tristian looked at him as a possible threat to her. Just looking at how Paul was built was probably intimidating to Tristian so she couldn't blame him for thinking that about him. But getting to know Paul he was definitely not a threat, the guy seemed to be like a big teddy bear.

As Paul started his car Stephanie looked back over at Tristian who had resumed his walking and he looked back over at her. He gave her a small smile and a wave. She returned it before closing and locking her door behind her. Now that Paul was gone she was going to go back to being paranoid about every sound she heard. This was one of the things she hated about being alone. After walking back over to the couch Stephanie took out her cellphone and decided to call her mother back. At least that would keep her mind off of everything for just a little while longer.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter :)

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Stephanie sat in the passenger seat of the car with her head resting against the headrest and her eyes closed. The sun warmed the skin on her hand as she stuck her hand out the window and felt the wind blow through her fingers. She smiled, letting the weight of all of her problems float away because in this moment she truly felt happy again. The smile on her face grew wider as the radio turned on and she heard him start to hum and sing along to the song on the radio.

"What?" She heard him ask with amusement in his voice. She opened her eyes and turned to look at him to see him looking at her before he turned his attention back to the road.

"Nothing" Stephanie replied with a giggle as he went back to singing along with the radio.

"Are you laughing at my singing?" He asked shaking his head and smiled. "I know I'm not the greatest but I'm not that bad."

"No you're singing is fine"

"Then what is it?"

"I'm just…" she trailed off lost to explain in words exactly everything she was feeling so instead she settled for one word. "Happy."

He glanced back over at her and smiled and reached across to lace his fingers through hers. Then he went back to singing and she just watched him. Her eyes ran over his short dark hair that was slightly ruffled to the sunglasses shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight and then to his soft lips. She drank him in as if she would never see him again and listened to the sound of his voice wanting to commit everything to memory. Then suddenly, it was all gone in a blink of an eye.

Her eyes fluttered opened to see the empty space beside of her on the bed and felt the ache in her chest. It had only been a dream. She reached over running her hand over the empty space before rolling over on to her back and jumped slightly when she felt something hit the side of her neck. She reached over and grabbed it and noticed it was an earbud. Last night when she couldn't fall asleep she had decided to listen to music so she wouldn't be freaked out every time she heard a small noise. Usually she wanted to make sure she was aware of everything in case of a break in but last night was in an exception. With all the constant worrying at night lately she had been completely exhausted and just needed a good night's sleep.

She reached up to her ear and pulled the other earbud out and winced at how sore her ear felt from having it in all night. Then she put her phone and the earbuds on her nightstand before rolling back over and squeezing her eyes shut hoping to fall back asleep. Hoping to go back to her dream where she could see and hear Brent again and get away from this empty feeling she had without him. But after a few minutes she was still awake and now she could hear someone knocking on her door loudly. She just laid there though not wanting to move. The only thing she felt like doing was staying in bed and forget about the world outside of her house for at least one day. That didn't seem like it was going to happen though as the next thing she heard was the sound of the door opening and closing. Then the sound of footsteps started towards her room.

"Steph what are you still doing in bed?"

"I was sleeping" Stephanie replied as Jess came into her room and sat down on what used to be Brent's side of the bed.

"It's almost noon"

"So? It's Saturday"

"What's wrong?" Jess asked with a worried expression as Stephanie gave a sigh.

"I miss him. I had a dream about him" Stephanie replied feeling her eyes start to tear up. "I was so happy and I felt…. whole again. Then I woke up and now I feel empty and alone again."

Stephanie sat up in bed trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall when she almost went backwards from Jess lunging into her and hugging her tightly.

"God I wish there was something I could do to make everything better" Jess said still holding her tightly. "You know I'm always here for you, right?"

"Yes and right now I would love to breathe again" Stephanie managed to get out as Jess finally let go of her and she inhaled deeply.

"Sorry"

"It's okay. So what brings you by?" Stephanie asked changing the subject. She needed to get her mind off of Brent and how she was feeling before she broke down and cried all day.

"I thought we could go shopping for a dress for next weekend. This weekend is the only time I have to find something because I'm going to be busy at work for the rest of this week."

"Why do you need a dress for next weekend?" Stephanie asked confused because she couldn't remember Jess mentioning anything special happening.

"Um for Michelle's wedding. Did you forget about it?"

"Shit" Stephanie muttered because she had forgotten about it. Everything had been hectic lately but thank God Jess had reminded her. Michelle would have not been very happy about her missing the wedding even though Jess or her wasn't a bridesmaid or anything. But Michelle and them had used to be close in college but after was a different story. Stephanie and Jess had of course stayed close but they hadn't really talked to Michelle much until about four months ago when she had moved back to the area.

"Yeah she called me this morning and was talking about the wedding. She wanted to know if we were bringing dates"

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her I was bringing Sam and I told her as far as I knew that you weren't bringing anyone. She seemed to be a little too happy that you didn't have a date though."

"Oh God. Do you think she's going to try and set me up with her cousin Gary again?" Stephanie asked grimacing at the thought.

"No clue but maybe you should reconsider the no date thing"

"I'm not ready for a date and even if I were I'm not sure I could find one before next weekend"

"Your mom probably could find one for you" Jess teased with a laugh as Stephanie shot her a dirty look. "Anyway it doesn't necessarily have to be an actual date. You could take Paul, you two seemed to have formed a friendship and you two can go as just friends. But if Michelle does try to get you to go out with Gary then you can pretend Paul is your boyfriend or something. I'm sure Paul would be willing to go along with it."

"He probably already has plans and even if he doesn't he probably doesn't want to attend a wedding for someone he doesn't even know" Stephanie replied shaking her head.

"Well you never know unless you ask" Jess replied with a shrug. "Anyway get up so we can go shopping."

* * *

Paul sat on the couch staring at Sam who was scratching the stubble on his jaw deep in thought. He knew he had something on his mind and he wished he would just spit it out already. So while he waited he decided just to return his attention back to the television show they had been watching.

"So…" Sam trailed off and cleared his throat which made Paul look back over at him.

"So…" Paul mimicked him trying to coax him in to finishing what he wanted to say.

"You and Steph seem to becoming pretty good friends"

"Yeah and?"

"I think you know where I'm going with this but I'm just going to ask. Do you like her?"

"Of course she's a great person and my friend"

"That's not what I meant" Sam replied shaking his head. "Are you developing feelings that are more than friendship towards her?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"No…. not too much. It's not a good idea to take anything further than friendship though" Sam replied and Paul opened his mouth to say something but Sam put up his hand to stop him. "I'm not saying that I don't like Steph because I do. She is a great person but you and I both know she isn't ready for anything other than friendship. Who knows when she will be and even when she is, you might not be who she takes a chance on. All I'm saying is be careful because I don't want to see you get hurt and if you try to push her into anything she isn't ready for then…. I'll try to kick your ass. Then Jess would probably then cut my balls off for letting you anywhere near Stephanie in the first place."

"You still have your balls? I thought she took those from you a while ago" Paul laughed as Sam flipped him off. "You're so pussy whipped."

"Hey as long as she's happy than I'm happy. I do **not** want to be on her bad side."

"Where is she anyway?"

"She left here about eleven thirty this morning saying she was going to Steph's so they could go shopping for a wedding we're going to next weekend."

"That was…" Paul trailed off and looked at the time on his watch "three hours ago."

"Yeah well women love their shopping" Sam replied just as the door to the apartment opened.

"What about shopping?" Jess asked coming into the apartment with quite a few bags.

"That you love shopping" Sam replied getting up from the couch and went towards her and grabbed some of the bags to help her out. "I thought you were going for one dress. Does it need this many bags to go with it?"

"No but like you said I love shopping so I found a lot more things I liked than just a dress"

"Did Stephanie buy just as much as you have?"

"Not as much but close" Stephanie replied coming into the apartment and closing the door behind her. As soon as Paul saw her his attention immediately went to her. She looked beautiful as always but today she looked less exhausted than she had been.

"Hey Steph" Paul greeted her with a smile that she returned before coming over to sit beside of him on the couch.

"Where did you go?" Jess asked looking over at Stephanie.

"Oh Stacy spotted me downstairs- "

"You should really stop being so nice to her"

"Jess she is one of your neighbors"

"I don't care. I've never liked her. She acts like she is better than everyone, her and her snooty friends. She's probably just trying to find something to gossip with them about" Jess replied rolling her eyes before heading off down the hallway to her bedroom with her shopping bags.

"So are you sleeping any better?" Paul asked bringing her attention back to him.

"Not really but last night was better" Stephanie replied with a small smile.

"You know if you want me to I could stay a night or two at your house I will just so you can get some sleep. I really don't mind to crash on your couch or you could come to my house. You could have my bed and I'll take the couch" Paul offered but she shook her head. He hated that she was so stressed out over someone maybe breaking into her house and he had offered a couple of times to stay with her but she refused.

"I'll be fine. These things are just something I have to get used to"

"Steph you don't have to go through this alone. You have me, Jess and Sam. We'll be here for you if you need us. All you have to do is ask."

"I know and I appreciate that but you guys have your own lives. I can't just ask you guys to drop everything and come running because I'm scared to sleep."

"The offer is there Steph if you ever need it. I'm not saying you have to do it every night or anything but if you really need us one night than all you have to do is call" Paul replied as she nodded her head.

"Does that offer only apply to when I can't sleep?" Stephanie asked nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No it applies to whenever you need it."

"Do you have any plans next Saturday?"

"None yet."

"Would you maybe want to uh…. Go to a wedding with me?" Stephanie asked biting her bottom lip and waited for his answer. Jess had talked to while they were shopping about Paul and how she probably should consider asking him to the wedding, even if Michelle wasn't planning on trying to set her up with Gary. It would also ward off any other guys who tried hitting on her.

Steph. Are you asking me on date?" Paul asked in a teasing tone that made her blush.

"N-no" Stephanie stammered feeling embarrassed and shy now. "I wanted you to come along as a friend but I think I've changed my mind now."

"I'm just joking Steph. I will go with you if you still want me to" Paul replied with an apologetic expression.

"I'll think about it" Stephanie replied in a teasing tone before smiling at him and he chuckled.

After Jess and Sam had put the shopping bags away in the bedroom Jess had stayed at the bedroom door listening to Paul and Stephanie talk in the living room.

"Jess what are you doing?" Sam asked in a half whisper as he came up behind her.

"Nothing" Jess turned her head and smiled innocently at him.

"I know that look. You are up to something" Sam replied as Jess turned her head back in the direction of the living room. "Are you trying to- "

"Don't worry about it" Jess replied sweetly and hoped that if Stephanie happened to find out her little plan that she wouldn't get too pissed off at her. She was only doing it because she loved her and wanted her to be happy. That didn't make her a bad person.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for the reviews! I feel like this chapter is ten times better than the last one so I hope you like it :)

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Paul sat at the table with Sam taking a sip of his drink as Stephanie and Jess went over to talk their friend and congratulate her. The wedding had been nice and Paul had caught Stephanie wiping at her eyes during the ceremony and then sometimes she would just stare off into space with a somber expression. Although when she would catch him staring she would snap out of it and give him a smile. He wasn't entirely sure what was going through her head but he had a suspicion that it had something to do with her deceased husband. He wanted to say something or do something to make her feel better and get her mind off of it but he had no idea how to do that but he was going to try his hardest to cheer her up.

"I feel out of place" Sam said breaking Paul out of his thoughts. Paul looked over at him while sitting his drink down on the table. "I don't know anybody here except for you, Jess and Steph."

"Don't worry I don't either. I'm not even sure Jess and Steph know some of the people here" Paul replied looking over in Stephanie's direction. She was smiling and laughing about something and he couldn't help the smile forming on his face from just watching her. She looked beautiful as always and he couldn't help but let his eyes linger over her today when he first saw the dress she was wearing. It was a sleeveless deep burgundy color with the neckline coming down just enough to show some of her cleavage, it hugged her curves and the dress came down to her knees. It was the first time since he met her that he had seen her wear something like that and he hadn't been able to stop staring.

"You've got it bad" Sam chuckled before picking up his glass and taking a drink.

"Are you going to keep teasing me about it?"

"Only serves you right for teasing me about Jess."

"I didn't."

"Bullshit" Sam replied and Paul chuckled remembering when Sam had told him he had started seeing Jess. She was all he had talked about it when they hung out and Paul had teased him about how much she had already started to affect him. Now a couple of months later of them dating and Paul finally getting around to meeting Jess he could see how good of a match she is for Sam.

"Paul?" A female voice said from behind him. It was very familiar and he was wondering if he was just hearing things or he hoped to God he was. But when he looked over at Sam and saw the surprised expression on his face he knew he wasn't hearing things. He turned around in his chair and his eyes met a familiar pair of brown eyes.

"Racheal" Paul replied trying not to show any of the emotions he was feeling from seeing her. Whether he liked it or not seeing her was bringing up the familiar pang of hurt that she had caused him. He really thought he had got past all of that but seeing her brought it all back to the surface unexpectedly. It was surprising to see her here though because he hadn't seen her earlier during the ceremony because he would have instantly recognized her. She looked the same except for her auburn hair now had blonde highlights and was a touch longer that it was. It fell down in waves and framed her heart shaped face and he didn't want to admit it but she looked beautiful.

"You look good" Racheal said breaking the awkward silence that had fell between them. "So do you know the bride or the groom?"

"Neither" Paul replied leaving a confused look on Racheal's face. "I came here with someone and she knows the bride."

"Oh" Racheal said and there was a flash of what looked like disappointment on her face but Paul wasn't able to really tell because she composed herself quickly and put on a smile. "Well maybe I know her. I know the bride."

"Maybe" Paul shrugged but he really hoped that Stephanie didn't know Racheal and that they were friends or anything.

"How do you know the bride?" Sam asked and Paul was glad that he had joined the conversation and took some of Racheal's attention off of him.

"I work for her."

"You work?" Sam asked with a small scoff that Paul wasn't sure if Racheal had heard but it made him smile a little. When Paul and Racheal had been together for a year she had moved in with him. Not long after that she lost her job and Paul had just worked to support both of them, never really caring that she never got another one. He loved and wanted to take care of her, and he would have done anything for her. Which confused him of why she had cheated on him.

"Yes I have bills to pay just like everyone else Sam."

"My bad. I just thought you moved from Paul's place to Mike's so I had no idea you were working." After Sam had mentioned Mike Paul started looking around to see if he could see him. He hadn't even thought about him being here with her but of course he would be and he didn't want to see him. And just like that almost out of nowhere Paul spotted Mike walking towards them and groaned inwardly.

"Paul, Sam. How are you guys? I haven't seen you in forever" Mike said as he reached them and put his arm around Racheal's waist pulling her close to his side. Paul wanted to look away but he kept his attention on them and his face neutral. He couldn't believe Mike was going to stand there and place nice pretending like nothing had happened.

"Oh we're great. Just trying to stay clear of people we thought was a friend, that's probably why you haven't seen us" Sam replied before grabbing his glass and taking a drink.

"Yeah you can never tell who your real friends are" Mike sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Sorry about that" Paul heard Stephanie's voice and looked over to see her coming towards him. He felt his anger start to subside which was a really good thing because he wasn't sure how much more of Mike he could take. Once Stephanie reached him he watched her look over at Racheal and Mike. "Did you run into someone you know?"

"Something like that" Paul replied and stood up next to her placing his hand on her back. "Steph this is Racheal and Mike."

"Hello" Stephanie greeted them with a smile which Mike happily returned while Racheal's looked kind of forced.

"So you're the one Paul came with?" Racheal asked looking over at Paul.

"Yeah Paul's my date" Stephanie replied moving closer to Paul and putting her hand on his chest. She really hoped Paul didn't mind that she had called him her date or for the display she was showing to him. But Paul had seemed like he was uncomfortable around this woman and even though Racheal had a smile plastered on her face it looked like she was throwing daggers with her eyes at Stephanie. She just wanted to help him out like she knew he would for her if she needed it.

"Would you like to dance Steph?" Paul asked clearing his throat and noticed some of the crowd had made their way to the makeshift dance floor. Dancing wasn't really his thing but if it gave him a chance to hold Stephanie close to him and get away from Mike and Racheal he didn't mind to do it.

"I'd love to" Stephanie smiled widely at him and he took her hand and led her over to where everyone else had started to dance.

"Well I guess we're going to go find a seat" Mike said to Sam "but call me so we can hang out sometime."

"I wouldn't count on it" Sam replied turning his attention to Jess who had just arrived back at the table. Then he looked back over to make sure Mike and Racheal had finally left before he fully relaxed.

"Who was that?" Jess asked sitting down in her chair and glancing over at the table Racheal and Mike had seated themselves at.

"Racheal and Mike. Rachel is Paul's ex and Mike is one of our ex friends."

"Oh that must have been uncomfortable. Why aren't you guys friends anymore?"

"Because Paul found Rachel cheating on him with Mike" Sam replied and looked at the shocked expression on Jess's face. "Yeah one day Paul came home early and was surprised to see Mike's car parked in his driveway. He got even more of a surprise when he caught them together in his and Racheal's bed."

"Wow."

"I'm not usually the one to pick sides but as soon as I found out I stopped being friends with Mike too. Paul and Mike were best friends they had known each other since like high school. They were really close and once Mike did that to Paul I couldn't believe he would do something like that to someone who was that close to him. It made me realize what kind of friend he was and I didn't want a friend like him."

"Yeah I wouldn't want a friend like that either."

"It hurt Paul really bad. Mike was one of his best friends and Racheal was the woman he loved more than anything. He really thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. That's why I'm nervous with you trying to set Paul and Stephanie up."

"Stephanie is nothing like that and I'm not trying to set them up" Jess replied and Sam gave her a 'I know better' look. "I'm not. It's more like trying to bring them closer together so Stephanie will realize what is in front of her."

"Same thing if you ask me. I know Stephanie wouldn't do Paul like that she's a great person and Paul likes her. The only problem is she's not ready to date anyone and I don't want to see my friend get hurt because he's already been hurt enough."

"I understand that but I think Paul could be the one she finally takes a chance on. I didn't notice it until recently when I saw them hanging out but he actually makes her laugh and smile. She seems a hell of a lot less miserable than she was and you can't deny that" Jess replied pointing her finger at Sam. "I think she has feelings for him too and that's the reason I urged her to ask Paul to the wedding."

"You mean why you tried setting them up" Sam chuckled and Jess rolled her eyes. "Listen if Steph finds out about this she will be pissed and it might push her away from Paul. So no more trying to set them up, let them work it out for themselves."

"Fine" Jess sighed picking up her glass and taking a drink as Sam eyed her.

"Promise me."

"I promise" Jess replied sitting her glass back down. "No more getting involved from me."

"Thank you" Sam replied looking over at Paul and Stephanie. They were dancing to some slow song and Paul was holding her close to him as Stephanie laughed at something Paul said to her. He really hoped that Paul didn't get hurt again and he hoped that Jess was right, that Stephanie did have feelings for Paul too.

After Stephanie and Paul got done dancing they headed back to the table where Jess and Sam were sitting. Stephanie had to admit that she was having a great time and she was really glad she had asked Paul to come with her. Even though when she would look around the room she would catch Racheal staring them down. When she had watched the ceremony earlier it had been a little hard for her because it kept reminding her of her own wedding day. She kept thinking of Brent in his tux and the way he smiled at her and the love in his eyes he had for her. She would have to snap herself back to the present and try to pay attention to the wedding. Once it was over though she started to feel a little better and relaxed especially when Paul was able to talk to her.

"Thank you for earlier by the way" Paul said breaking her out of her thoughts.

"You're welcome" Stephanie replied feeling relieved that Paul hadn't minded her actions when they had been talking to Rachael.

"Rachael is the ex I told you about that cheated on me" Paul replied and Stephanie realized now why he had seemed uncomfortable around her. "The guy Mike that was with her is the guy she cheated on me with. He used to be one of my best friends until I found them together."

"Oh wow Paul" Stephanie reached over and laid her hand on top of his. "I'm sorry. Are you okay seeing them here? We can leave if you want."

"No it's fine. It hurts a little more than I thought it would but I'm okay" Paul replied looking into her eyes and giving her a smile. She had forgotten about her hand that was sitting on top of his until she started to feel the skin on the back of her hand being stroked. She looked down to see that he had flipped his hand over and was now holding her hers as his thumb caressed the back of her hand. It was sending this unexplainable warm feeling through her again that she had felt when they were dancing and she could feel her heart speed up. Then he stopped and slid his hand out from underneath hers and she looked back up at him. "Sorry."

"It's okay" Stephanie smiled and gave a little shrug. "Is it bad that it's still light out and I feel completely exhausted?"

"Are you still not getting any sleep?"

"Not really and I've been kind of irritable."

"That's it" Paul replied shaking his head before taking a drink from his glass and Stephanie gave him a confused look. "Either I'm staying with you for a couple of days or you're staying with me. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Paul- "

"No you're not getting out of this. You need sleep Steph, it's unhealthy. So you decide if you want me to stay with you or if you want to stay with me."

"Paul- "

"I guess I'll stay with you" Paul replied and Stephanie shook her head then looked at him with a smile.

"Thanks but you really don't have to."

"What are you two talking about?" Jess asked making Stephanie look over at her.

"I'm going to be staying with Steph for a couple of days so she can finally get some sleep" Paul replied before she even had a chance to say anything.

"I think that's a great idea" Jess smiled widely at Stephanie. "I'm tired of getting snapped at lately. It's about time you let someone help you out."

"We will just need to swing by my place after we leave here so I can pick up some extra clothes and stuff" Paul said finishing off his drink and standing up. "I'm going to get another drink. Do you want anything?"

"No I'm fine. I still have some left" Stephanie replied picking up her drink as Paul nodded his head and headed away from the table.

As Paul was getting another drink he felt someone clap him on the back and he looked over expecting Sam but felt irritation sweep over him when he saw it was Mike.

"Now how did you get someone as hot as that?" Mike asked looking over in Stephanie's direction and Paul's hands clenched into fists at his side.

"Stay away from her" Paul warned and Mike just laughed.

"Don't feel threatened Paul we're friends. I wouldn't do that" Mike smirked at him before looking back over at Stephanie.

"I'm not threatened. Stephanie is nothing like Racheal which is one of the many reasons I like her. She wouldn't go for someone like you but that's not the reason I'm warning you stay away from her" Paul replied picking up his drink "and you and I, we're not friends."

"Oh don't be like that" Mike called after him but Paul ignored him as he walked away. Once he reached the table he put his drink down on the table no longer interested in it.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Paul asked wanting to get out of there and away from Mike and Racheal. He thought he could deal with them but once Mike started saying things about Stephanie he was done trying to deal. If he stayed there then he might possibly end up in a fight with Mike.

"Yeah I'm ready" Stephanie replied seeing the stressed out expression on his face and stood up from her chair.

"Let's get out of here" Sam said standing up and Jess got up from her chair too. Then without another word they all walked out together.

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After they left the reception they stopped at Paul's house where he packed some clothes in a duffle bag and then they headed back to her house. Stephanie was actually glad to be going home she felt exhausted and she wanted to get home and put on some pajamas and sit in front of the television and just relax. Once they pulled into her driveway and Paul turned the car off Stephanie got out and shut the door behind her. She noticed Tristian was outside playing with his son Charlie and gave them a little wave before she headed up to her house.

Paul grabbed his duffle bag from the car and shut the door behind him and noticed Tristian eyeing his duffle bag but he just ignored him and headed to the porch. He couldn't help but think Tristian was a little weird, every time he came over and Tristian would be outside he would stare at him like he didn't trust him. Which was weird because Paul hadn't ever really talked to him so Paul would just ignore him.

"I'll show you to the guest room where you can put your stuff" Stephanie said once they were inside and headed down the hall to a room across from hers. "No one has stayed here in a while so I'll need to get some sheets and a blanket."

"Okay" Paul replied sitting his duffle bag on the bed and opened it to find his shampoo and body wash.

"Here you go" Stephanie said coming into the room carrying a sheet and blanket. "I'll make the bed if you want."

"Steph I can do it" Paul replied with a laugh. "Just sit it down on the bed and I'll do it after I take a shower."

"Okay" Stephanie dropping the sheet and blanket on the bed before going over and take him by surprise by wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you I really appreciate this."

"It's no problem" Paul replied wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back.

"I probably would have never asked" Stephanie replied pulling back and looking at him with a smile.

"Yeah I know" Paul laughed staring into her eyes and that's the way they stayed for a moment. The friendly atmosphere between them changing into something else and Stephanie could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. "I guess I'm going to go ahead and shower."

"Yeah" Stephanie replied dropping her arms from around his neck and backing away from him. "I'm going to go change into something else."

Then she turned around and headed across the hall to her room shutting the door behind her trying to ignore whatever that had been between her and Paul.


	6. Chapter 6

This is for **donthaveausername**. I'm sorry it took so long! Thank you everyone for the reviews from last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one :)

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The next morning the smell of bacon had Stephanie's eyelids fluttering open and her stomach rumbling from hunger. She let out a yawn and stretched out before grabbing her cellphone from her nightstand to look at the time. She wasn't sure what time she fell asleep last night but she never had made it out of her room after leaving Paul's room. After she had shut the door to her room last night trying to forget whatever that moment had been between them she had laid down on her bed and fell asleep. All the nights of not sleeping good had caught up with her and the next thing she knew was waking up at one point during the night hearing low sounds from the television. At first she started to panic but then remembered that Paul was staying with her and then like that she was right back out.

Stephanie slid out of the bed and realized that she had forgot to change out of the dress she had worn to the wedding yesterday. She had meant to change but once she had laid down on her bed thinking it would only be a couple of minutes, well it ended up being the rest of the night. So she went over to her dresser and pulled out some sweatpants and a tank top to lounge in until after breakfast when she could shower. Then she looked into the mirror and noticed that her eyeshadow and eyeliner she had forgotten to take off last night looked absolutely horrible from sleeping in it. She definitely would have to wash her face before facing Paul because there was no way she was going to let anyone see her looking the way she was. She went over to her bedroom door and opened it then quickly went to the bathroom to make herself somewhat presentable.

When she was done in the bathroom she made her way to the kitchen to see Paul standing at the stove wearing a pair of black pajamas without a shirt making scrambled eggs. He looked up a few seconds later as if he could sense her staring at him or maybe he had heard her she wasn't sure but he smiled at her. She returned the smile and made her way to the kitchen table and sat down feeling kind of awkward because now she was thinking about the weird moment between them last night. Shifting slightly in her seat and tucking strands of hair behind her ears she tried pushing the thoughts away and tried to think of something to start a conversation but she suddenly felt shy.

"Good morning" Paul said breaking the silence "you look like you slept well."

"Good morning and I did. I feel a lot better today. I'm sorry I left you on your own last night I laid down for a minute it felt like and ended up falling asleep."

"It's okay I was pretty certain that was what had happened. I just ended up sitting down and watching some television for a while. I woke up not too long ago and decided to cook breakfast, I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. Do you need any help? I feel weird sitting here letting you do all the work especially since you're my guest."

"No you just sit there. I'm almost done anyway" Paul replied turning toward her and flashing her another smile. "Where do you keep your plates?"

She pointed to the cabinet before turning her attention her phone that was vibrating on the hard surface of the kitchen table and hit ignore when she saw it was her mother. Whatever it was Linda was calling about probably wasn't important she probably just wanted to check in on her and that could wait until after breakfast. Then she would go to her bedroom and call Linda back while she picked out some clothes to change into before she showered. She wasn't about to come out wrapped up in a towel while Paul was here like she usually did when she was alone it would be awkward, well for her anyway.

"Here you go" Paul said sliding a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of her.

"Thanks" Stephanie replied as he took a seat in front of her and they both began eating. Silence fell between them as ate and once they were done Stephanie got up to rinse the plates off and put them in the dishwasher but Paul stopped her by taking her plate.

"I made the mess I'll clean it up" Paul said sitting her plate down on top of his and standing up.

"I can't let you do everything Paul. You're supposed to be my guest remember?"

"Yes you've already reminded me but I feel like it's only right since like I said I made the mess."

"That is not the way it works in my house though. If Brent cooks, then I do the dishes and if I cook then Brent… used to do the dishes" Stephanie replied as Paul stared at her his eyes softening and looking at her almost like he pitied her. God she hated that look and she didn't need it from him too. "I'm going to go shower and brush my teeth."

She picked her phone up off the table and headed out of the kitchen back to her bedroom feeling her good mood drop. She really didn't want to call her mom back now as she planned because Linda would probably end up making her mood worse but if she didn't call her back then soon Linda would be repeatedly calling her until she picked up.

"I'm outside come open the door" Linda said before Stephanie even had the chance to greet her.

"You're at my house?"

"That's what I said, isn't it? Now come open the door" Linda ordered before Stephanie's phone showed that Linda had hung up. Stephanie took a breath and left her bedroom once again to go open the door for her mother who seemed to be in a bad mood too. As she walked past the kitchen she noticed Paul loading her dishwasher and felt herself panic that her mother was here and Paul was in her kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of pajamas. There was no telling what her mother would think but she had no choice. Linda was outside waiting and she knew Stephanie was there so she would have to let her think whatever popped into her head.

"Hey mom" Stephanie said to Linda once she opened the door and looked back towards the kitchen wondering if maybe she should have at least give Paul a warning that her mother was there.

"Stephanie why didn't you pick up when I called you earlier? And who's car is that in the driveway?" Linda asked walking into the house passed her.

"I'm great mom! Just fantastic. I'm glad you asked" Stephanie replied with a roll of her eyes.

"I've had a terrible start to my morning so excuse me if I'm not in the best of moods."

"Why what happened?" Stephanie asked as Linda started walking to the once place she didn't want her going: the kitchen.

"Shane called me to inform me that your father has decided to attend Max's birthday party" Linda replied stopping at the doorway of the kitchen and turned to face Stephanie with her arms folded. Linda had fortunately not seen Paul yet but even if she had Stephanie probably wouldn't have noticed because she felt really surprised by the information Linda had just told her. Vince and Linda had been divorced for two years now and after the divorce had been finalized between the two there hadn't been any contact between her parents and her father hardly made contact with Stephanie or Shane either. Stephanie and Shane would have to be the first to attempt to contact him or they would probably never hear from him. Vince would have lunch or dinner with them every once in a while, but anytime it came to events such as birthday's and they would send invitations he would never respond or show up. Mostly their father threw himself into his work and was always too 'busy' to do anything else or at least that is what he told them.

"Well maybe he won't show up" Stephanie shrugged but even she knew that wasn't the truth. Vince actually responding to the invite meant that he was definitely showing up or it would have went ignored like every other invite they ever sent. "If he does you have a while to prepare yourself for having to see him."

"No I don't. The party is this afternoon Stephanie" Linda glared at her "Did you forget?"

"Um…"

"You forgot! How could you forget?" Linda asked and Stephanie fought the urge to roll her eyes at how dramatic her mother was being right now. She knew it was her nephew Max's seventh birthday soon but with her not sleeping well lately she couldn't really keep up with dates.

"I'm sorry mom. I haven't been able to sleep lately and it's been hard on me. Anyway try not to worry about dad being there. I'm sure you too can be civil enough to get through Max's party" Stephanie replied not believing that either but she had to try and comfort her mother somehow. She wondered if maybe two years of no contact they could not fight for once because for years they hadn't been able to go long without having huge fights. It really was no surprise they were divorced she was surprised it hadn't happened sooner than it had.

"You're right. I'll just try to ignore him" Linda replied with a nod of her head and turned to the kitchen and walked in but then she suddenly stopped. Stephanie watched as her mother looked at Paul and then back to her.

"Mom this is my friend Paul. His car is the one you seen in the driveway" Stephanie said gesturing toward Paul "Paul this is my mother Linda."

"Nice to meet you Linda" Paul said flashing her a smile as he walked over to her and stuck out his hand to shake. Linda reached out and shook his hand with a smile of her own as Stephanie mouthed 'I'm sorry'. He wanted to say it was okay but then it would probably confuse Linda so instead he gave Stephanie a wink.

"It's really nice to meet you too Paul."

"Well I'll leave you two alone to talk. I'm just going to go take a shower" Paul replied trying to make sure that he didn't make Stephanie feel uncomfortable when her mother and her were discussing family stuff.

"Paul wait" Linda said as he started heading out of the kitchen. He turned back around to face Linda again. "We are having a birthday party for my Grandson tonight and you should come with Stephanie."

"Mom" Stephanie hissed "I'm sure Paul has something else he'll want to do today."

"It's okay I actually don't. I'll come with you if you want."

"Great" Linda clapped her hands together with a smile before Stephanie even had a chance to respond.

"Well I guess I'll go get that shower. It was nice meeting you Linda" Paul replied and turned back around and headed to the bathroom.

"How long has this been going on?" Linda asked as they heard a door shut and Paul couldn't hear them.

"It's not what you think mom" Stephanie replied shaking her head as Linda went over to the cabinet and pulled out a glass.

"Then why is he wearing nothing but pajamas and taking a shower here then?" Linda asked arching her eyebrow before turning to the refrigerator and pulling out orange juice.

"We're just friends mom" Stephanie replied not wanting to tell her mother about being scared to sleep because she was afraid of a burglar ever since her neighbor was robbed. Linda would probably try making her come to stay over at her house and there was no way that was happening.

"Are you doing that whole benefits thing. I'm not sure what it's called" Linda waved her hand and Stephanie felt her face heat up. Was her mother really just casually asking her if Paul and her were friends with benefits? She didn't even know her mom even knew about stuff like that.

"No mom and could we please not talk about that kind of stuff?"

"Well you should be" Linda replied taking a drink of her orange juice and Stephanie sat back down at the table putting her face in her hands. She did not want to talk to Linda about this at all. "It's been a year Stephanie."

"I know how long it has been" Stephanie mumbled feeling her face getting even hotter from embarrassment. Why couldn't Linda just drop the subject?

"I've been telling you it's time to get back out there and now here is the perfect opportunity since you and Paul are- "

"Mom! Paul and I are really just friends" Stephanie replied pulling her hands away from her face.

"If you say so Stephanie" Linda replied and finished off her glass of orange juice.

"So what time is dad going to be at Shane's?" Stephanie asked trying to change the subject.

"I have no idea but the party starts at three. Are you going to come help us set up everything?"

"I always do"

"Okay well I'll get out of your hair then and let you and Paul finish up whatever you were doing" Linda replied opening the dishwasher and putting her glass in as Stephanie stood up from her chair to walk her out. She really wanted to open her mouth and try to tell Linda once again nothing was going between her and Paul but apparently everything she said was going in one ear and out the other. No point in wasting her breath. "I'll see you two later."

"We will see you later" Stephanie replied walking to the front door with Linda and giving her a hug.

Once Linda had left Stephanie walked to the living room just as she heard Paul open the bathroom door and his footsteps coming towards the living room.

"So what time is the party?" Paul asked and Stephanie turned her head toward him upon hearing his voice. For a moment it felt like she had stopped breathing and her mouth went dry when she saw that he was only wearing a towel around his waist. His hair was wet which made droplets of water run down his chest and she was trying not to stare "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Stephanie replied breathlessly and looked away from him so she wouldn't stare. "The party starts at three but I usually get there early to help set everything up."

"Okay I wanted to run out and pick up a gift to take."

"You don't have to do that Paul."

"I want to and I can't just go without bringing a gift, it would be rude" Paul replied turning and walking down the hallway leaving Stephanie to catch her breath again and calm herself down. She ran her fingers through her hair and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. When she opened them again her eyes landed on the picture hanging on the wall in her front of her. It was a picture of her and Brent they both were smiling widely and right now with the way she was looking at it, it looked like as if Brent were staring at her. Her stomach suddenly felt uneasy and she felt the guilt starting to flood through her for just simply feeling the way she had just now toward Paul. Stephanie tore her eyes away from the picture and went to the couch and sat down. Linda was definitely wrong, it was not time for her to get back there and date. Maybe it never would be.

* * *

Paul followed Stephanie up the driveway to the brick house in front of them noticing there was only three other vehicles parked in the driveway. It wasn't surprising considering they were there early for Stephanie to help her family to set up but he wondered if one of the vehicles belonged to her father. He couldn't help but overhear Linda and Stephanie's conversation earlier about her dad. He wasn't sure what exactly Linda had been freaking out about but he wondered if Stephanie was freaking about it too for some reason and that was the reason she had been quiet since Linda left her house earlier. She hadn't really said much to him since then and he had caught her off in her own little world a couple of times and he wanted to ask her about it but at the same time it wasn't any of his business. He just wished he could help with whatever it was that had her like this.

"Before we go in I want to apologize for my family in advance because knowing them they are probably going to say something embarrassing a lot or something to make you uncomfortable" Stephanie said turning to face him when they had made it to the front door.

"Don't worry about it I'll be fine. There isn't much they could say to make me feel either one of those things."

"Okay well you can't say I didn't warn you" Stephanie shrugged and turned back to the door opening it and stepped inside.

"Aunt Stephy!" a voice yelled and then a little boy with dark hair ran to them and Stephanie kneeled down to the let the boy run into her arms where he wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Happy birthday" Stephanie said as the little boy let go of her and Stephanie stood back up. "Where is everyone?"

"In the kitchen" he replied pointing in the direction of the kitchen before taking off in the direction he pointed to.

Stephanie and Paul followed behind him until they reached the kitchen where Paul saw Linda who smiled at him as soon as she seen him. There were two other people standing there talking with each other that Paul assumed was Stephanie's brother and his wife.

"Stephanie you're finally here and Paul I'm so glad you came" Linda said coming over and giving his arm a gentle squeeze and then moved on to Stephanie and hugged her. "Shane and Marissa come meet Stephanie's boyfriend Paul."

"Mom" Stephanie groaned shaking her head "I told you earlier Paul and I are just friends."

"I'm Stephanie's brother Shane" Shane said coming over and extending his hand out to Paul who shook it. "This is my wife Marissa and that is our son Max who is trying to steal a cupcake since our backs are turned."

"How do you do that?" Max asked annoyed before putting the cupcake back.

"I have eyes in the back of my head" Shane replied as Max stalked off out of the kitchen while Shane laughed. "Anyway, nice to meet you Paul."

"Nice to meet you too."

Since the introductions had been made Linda handed some decorations to Stephanie so they could start getting everything set up and ready to go. Paul helped as much as they would let him and Stephanie had finally stopped being quiet and looked like she was having fun. He was enjoying himself too up until the party actually began because his phone had started ringing in his pocket. When he had stepped outside to get away from the noise he looked at his caller I.D his good mood vanished because even though the number shown was not saved into his phone he knew exactly who it was. Even though he had erased her out of his phone unfortunately he couldn't erase the number from his memory. He debated answering it but before he made his decision his phone stopped ringing and he heard the door behind him open and close.

"Is it already too much for you?" Stephanie asked with a laugh as she came to stand beside of him.

"No I just had a phone call so I stepped out for a minute. Was it too much for you?"

"I just came out to see if my dad was here yet" Stephanie replied with a sigh as her eyes scanned the street.

"Are you nervous about him coming?" Paul asked as his phone started ringing once again and he looked down to see Racheal's number once again. He quickly ignored it and put his phone on silent.

"Kind of. Mom and dad do not get along and I'm just hoping they don't get in an argument especially since today is about Max."

"Steph" Linda said from behind them and they turned around to see her standing in the doorway. "Has Phil arrived yet?"

"Not that I can see" Stephanie replied and Linda let out a huff and walked back into the house shutting the door behind her.

"Who's Phil?"

"My mom's newest boyfriend. Well I guess technically he's not new since they've been together for eight months now but she seems more serious with him than any of the other's she dated since her and dad divorced" Stephanie replied glancing back out to the street once more before turning back to him. "Ready to go back in?"

"Yeah let's go" Paul replied walking back to the door and headed inside with Stephanie following behind him.

* * *

Two hours later Vince still hadn't shown up to the party and Stephanie started to wonder if he even would after all. Most kids and their parents had already started to clear out after Max had opened his gifts and everyone had eaten. She was started to relax and feel a little relieved that her father probably wasn't going to show even though she loved Vince and wanted to see him. It was just easier this way and Max's birthday party would be a success without her parent's possibly arguing about something.

Stephanie was sitting with her family and Paul at one of the tables they had set up in the backyard as Max ran around playing with some of his friends from school when she noticed some guy kept looking over at her.

"Oh no" Linda gasped which pulled Stephanie's attention to Linda.

"What?"

"I'm so sorry Stephanie I completely forgot and I had no idea you were with Paul until today but I invited one of my friends from my book club to the party. I also told her to invite her son and his daughter since he is single- "

"You were going to try setting me up?" Stephanie asked her voice raising slightly.

"I'm sorry but he's coming over here now" Linda replied as Stephanie looked in the direction Linda was looking in to see the guy who kept looking at her. He was approaching the table with a smile on his face and the closer he got Stephanie could see that he was attractive with his dark tousled hair and brown eyes but she definitely wasn't interested in getting to know him.

"Hello Linda" he said and Linda gave him a smile "is this is your daughter?"

"Yes Gavin this is Stephanie" Linda replied patting Stephanie's hand "Stephanie this is Gavin."

"Nice to meet you" Stephanie replied with a nod trying to be polite because even though she wasn't interested in him she didn't want to be rude and hurt his feelings or anything.

"Nice to meet you too."

"This is my boyfriend Paul" Stephanie blurted out and put her arm through his and gave it a little squeeze to try and send him a silent message to go along with it. Thankfully Paul looked over at Gavin and gave him a small wave to acknowledge him and Gavin's smile faltered a little but gave Paul a small wave back.

"Well I thought I would come over and say hello and to say thank you for the invite but Lizzy and I are going to get going" Gavin replied looking at Linda now. "Lizzy had a blast."

"I'm glad you came. Have a safe trip home" Linda replied with a smile and he waved at her and walked away.

"Thank you" Stephanie whispered to Paul and letting go of his arm.

"No problem" Paul whispered back just as someone else walked up to the table and Stephanie looked up to see Vince and some blonde in a very low cut top that was way too inappropriate for a child's birthday party. The woman definitely wanted to show off her implants that Vince had probably paid for.

"Hey guys it's nice to see everyone" Vince said with a smile as he looked around the table and cleared his throat when his eyes fell on Linda. "Well almost everyone."

Linda scoffed as Stephanie closed her eyes and sighed while silently praying that they didn't start fighting especially in front of all these people. Stephanie opened her eyes and looked over at Shane to see he looked a little annoyed by their father's comment. He was probably hoping for the same thing she was too.

"So how is everyone?" Vince asked as everyone murmured things about being good and then his eyes fell on Stephanie "Steph where is Brent?"

"Are you being serious right now dad?" Shane asked with an outraged look on his face.

"Brent is dead and he has been for a year now dad. Do you remember me telling you about this at all?" Stephanie asked as her eyes started to water. Vince stood there with a blank face opening and closing his mouth as Stephanie felt tears slip down her cheek. She wasn't sure if she was crying because talking about Brent being dead hurt so much or the fact that she was angry that her father didn't care enough to even listen to her. It didn't matter though because the only thing she wanted to do was get away so she pushed her chair back and stood up. "I'm going to go what's the point in staying to catch up with you if you're not even going to listen. I just don't even want to deal with it. Shane please tell Max happy birthday again for me and that I love him. I'll see you guys later."

"Great look what you did. Do you even listen to us at all?" Stephanie heard Shane ask as she walked away wiping the tears away from her eyes. Paul was by her side quickly pulling her close to his side and helping her to the car.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you everyone for the reviews :) This is for Iknowyoulovemexoxo, I had a little bit of a hard time with it but I finally finished it so I hope everyone enjoys this chapter :)

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"I have no idea what's wrong with my parents" Stephanie shook her head still feeling upset from the day before. "I just wished you were here."

She looked at the headstone in front of her feeling tears prick her eyes. If Brent were here right now, he would know exactly what to say to make everything better. But then again if Brent were alive she probably wouldn't be dealing with Linda being obnoxious with the moving on thing, or her dad hurting her so bad with not even knowing Brent was gone. Her parents would still probably drive her crazy if Brent were alive but it wouldn't be so hard to ignore and it wouldn't be about things that were really sensitive for her.

"God I miss your voice. I miss everything about you" Stephanie whispered swiping at the tear that slipped down her cheek. "I wake up all the time wishing it was some bad dream."

She sniffed and dried some more tears from underneath her eyes before noticing the time on her watch. She had been here for a while now just talking about things that had been happening lately. It was getting late though and she knew she had to get going before Paul worried about her. He had no idea that she had planned on visiting the cemetery after work today but she had given him a spare key of hers in case he got to her house before she did.

"I've got to go but I'll be back soon" Stephanie said standing up and dusting herself off. She kissed her fingertips and laid them on the headstone. "I love you."

Heading back to her car she couldn't help but feel guilty because to her it felt like she was running off to be with some other man. A man that was staying with her at the moment and who was making her start to feel things that she wasn't sure about. That also made her feel guilty especially when she would glance over to the photos of Brent hanging up in her living room. She hadn't dared talk about Paul either when she visited Brent's grave and she didn't plan on it either. Paul was just a friend and whatever she was feeling she was sure would go away once he wasn't staying with her anymore, she was sure of it.

Once she pulled into her driveway she was surprised to see Paul hadn't made it there yet but she was relieved to know he hadn't been sitting here worrying about her. She got of her car and locked it before heading to her porch to go inside and relax before she had to start making something for dinner.

"Steph, wait" Stephanie heard Tristian yell to her as she reached her porch. She turned to see him already halfway to her.

"Hey" Stephanie said once he was closer to her.

"Hey. I've been meaning to come over and see how you have been" Tristian replied shoving his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "I've noticed that guy has been for the last two days."

"Oh yeah Paul's been staying with me to help me out" Stephanie replied with a shrug.

"Well you do know if you needed anything I would be more than happy to help. All you had to do was ask" Tristian chuckled and then cleared his throat. "So you're finally getting back out there huh?"

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asked feeling confused as Tristian rubbed the back of his neck.

"That you're back out there dating after Brent's death."

"I'm not" Stephanie shook her head feeling uncomfortable talking about this subject with him. It was bad enough her mother was always talking about it and she didn't feel like talking about it with her neighbor. Sure they were pretty good friends but not really that close to talk about these kind of things.

"I just thought since that guy Paul was staying at your house that you two were dating or…something along those lines."

"No he's a friend who is just staying because of the break in that happened at your house not too long ago. I've just been worried about the person possibly coming back."

"Oh it's just I had seen him around a lot so I just assumed. It makes sense though he doesn't really seem like the kind of guy for you."

"Paul is a really great guy" Stephanie replied defensively as if Tristian was insinuating that there was something wrong with Paul. How would he know? He hadn't even said anything to Paul and she wasn't going to let him try and say anything bad about him.

"I'm sure he is" Tristian replied holding his hands up. "I didn't mean anything by that I just meant he didn't seem like you're type."

Stephanie went to ask him how would he know anything about her type because he had only ever seen her with Brent but just as she was going to Paul pulled into the driveway. She watched as Tristian nervously looked behind him as Paul got of his car and she didn't think she could feel any more relieved than she did at the moment. She no longer wanted to continue the conversation with Tristian and by the look on his face she could tell he wanted to hurry and leave.

"Hey" Paul said looking at her as he approached her and Tristian. He then turned his attention to Trent who shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think we've been properly introduced I'm Paul."

"I'm Tristian" Tristian replied shaking the hand Paul had extended out to him. "Well I just wanted to see how you were doing Steph. I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay see you later" Stephanie smiled politely as Tristian turned around and started heading back to his house. Paul looked over at her with raised eyebrows and amused smile on his face.

"What was that about? You looked tense when I pulled in."

"It was weird" Stephanie muttered turning and heading to her front door to unlock it as Paul followed behind her. "He was talking about things that we had never really talked about before."

"He seemed like he couldn't wait to get away when I got here" Paul chuckled "You seemed uncomfortable though. You should have told him to get lost."

"I couldn't do that" Stephanie opened the door and they walked inside the house. She couldn't wait to sit on the couch and just relax for a few minutes.

"Why not?" Paul asked making his way to the couch and grabbed the remote to the television then flopped down on the couch. "Oh yeah because you're too nice."

"Shut up I am not" Stephanie playfully smacked his chest after sitting down beside of him. "You think you know me so well."

"I'm starting to" Paul teased turning the television on and started flipping through the channels. "So how was your day?"

"Exhausting" Stephanie replied laying her head against the back of the couch and closing her eyes. Even though she had slept pretty well last night she still felt emotionally drained from crying most of the night. Paul had done his best to comfort her and she was grateful for that but it had hurt so bad to realize just how little it seemed her father cared about her. At least Shane had called her not long after she had got home to check on her and apologize for their father's behavior. It wasn't his job to do so and she told him not to worry about it that it wasn't his fault. "How was your day?"

"It was pretty good."

"Can we trade days?" Stephanie asked turning her head towards him and opening her eyes.

"I would if I could" Paul replied noticing something smudged underneath her eye. "You have something under your eye."

"Where?" Stephanie asked as he brought his fingers up and gently wiped underneath her eye. "What is it?"

"Something black. I think it's your makeup."

"Oh yeah, of course. It's the last time I buy that brand of mascara" Stephanie replied remembering that she hadn't checked her reflection in the mirror since leaving Brent's grave. She was surprised she didn't have black tear stains on her cheeks from the mascara. "It said waterproof but it definitely hasn't been."

"I wouldn't know anything about it" Paul chuckled looking at her. He now realized seeing her closer up that her eyes were a little puffy. "Have you been crying?"

"Just a little."

"Was it over last night?" Paul asked his anger flaring a little from the memory of her father. He wasn't even properly introduced to him and knew nothing of him but he instantly hadn't liked him.

"Partly but it's okay. I'm okay" Stephanie gave him a small smile. "So do I have anything under my other eye?"

"I don't see anything" Paul replied as she wiped underneath of her eye. He wanted to ask her the other reasons she had been crying but it seemed she didn't want to talk about it. So he was going to let it go because there was no point in bringing it up and making her feel sad again. "So what would you like to watch? Because I'm not finding anything on."

"Something funny. I have Netflix so you can try to find something on it if you want" Stephanie replied not really caring what they watched because she would miss some of it when she went to fix dinner.

Thinking about dinner she knew she had put it off long enough and it was time to get up and get it started. She got up from the couch and went into the kitchen thinking of something easy to fix for the night when she heard the front door open.

"I don't know if you guys have eaten yet but I brought Chinese food if you are interested" Jess said coming into the kitchen bringing the food with her making Stephanie's mouth water at the smell.

"You don't know how happy you've just made me" Stephanie joked but she was relieved that she didn't have to cook now. She had no idea how hungry she actually was either until the smell of the Chinese food was in front of her. "I didn't even know you were coming over."

"I tried calling you but it kept ringing and then going to voicemail so I thought I would take a chance and come on by" Jess replied going over to the cabinet and pulling some plates out. Stephanie pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw Jess's missed calls and noticed her phone was on silent.

"I must have forgot to turn my ringer back on after work" Stephanie replied taking the phone off of silent and putting back into her pocket. "Did Sam come with you?"

"Yeah he's on his way in. He was dealing with a phone call so I came on in."

"Well I hope he knows we're not waiting on him to eat because I'm starving" Paul said coming into the kitchen and grabbing a plate Jess had put down on the counter. "I hope there is enough left for everyone after I get done making my plate."

"Maybe we should go first then" Jess replied playfully shoving him away while her and Stephanie laughed as they started putting food onto their plates.

* * *

After she was done eating Stephanie made her way out of the house and sat down on the porch swing. She hadn't really got to come out and use it for a while since the robbery happened next door. She had been staying inside with her doors locked so while she had the chance she decided to take the opportunity to just sit outside and relax. Especially while everyone else was finishing up what they were eating or going back for more food.

Stephanie put one of her legs up on the swing and let the other one push the swing back and then let go letting the swing bring her forward. She could still remember the day that Brent and her had looked at the house before deciding to buy it. It hadn't taken much for her to fall in love with it and the peaceful little neighborhood. Her and Brent had actually sat down on the swing and cuddled up next to each other gently rocking back and forth on the swing that day. She was pretty sure he had loved it just as instantly as she had.

"What are you thinking about?" Paul asked bringing her from her memory and sat down beside of her. "You're smiling pretty big there."

"I was thinking about the day Brent and I first looked at this house" Stephanie replied her smiling slipping a little. Brent and her had loved this house and now all their future plans were gone. It was just her now in this empty house, all alone. Just that thought made the aching pain come back.

"Did something funny happen that day?" Paul asked laying his arm behind her and letting it rest on the back of the swing.

"No it was just a good memory" Stephanie smiled sadly turning her head looking out into the yard where she used to envision her and Brent's children playing one day. She knew she had to stop thinking about all of that now before she depressed herself further. "So what are you doing out here."

"I actually got full so I decided to see where you went off to."

"What are Jess and Sam doing?"

"Finishing up their food while arguing about what movie we all should watch."

"I have a feeling we're going to be pulled into their argument soon."

"You're probably right so we should enjoy the peace and quiet now" Paul joked before they fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Stephanie looked over at Paul as he stared off into the distance and she thought about how he had been there for her recently. He had definitely made things more bearable for her lately especially like last night with what happened with Vince. Then he helped her with staying here with her so she could finally get some sleep and she was starting to dread when it came time for him to go home. It had been nice having him around and to have someone to talk to, she hadn't realized exactly how lonely she had felt. But Paul had his own life to get back to and she understood that.

"What?" Paul asked catching her staring at him.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how nice it's been having you around."

"You mean you haven't got sick of me yet?"

"Not yet anyways" Stephanie teased as Paul chuckled. "But I bet you have a lot to get back to when you go back home."

"I don't really. I do the same thing every day that I do here minus someone else being there. I'll probably go to the gym a lot more than I have since I've been here with you but that's the only difference" Paul replied with a little shrug making her realize she wasn't the only one coming home from work to an empty place.

"You must go out on dates though" Stephanie replied remembering how not long after they had met he said he had dated a little bit since his ex.

"Not lately" Paul shook his head because the woman he wanted to date wasn't quite ready for anything yet. He couldn't say those words to her though without freaking her out. But he had really started to like her and if he had any chance whatsoever with her then he would wait.

"Why not? You have nothing holding you back and you're sweet, caring and attractive" Stephanie replied blushing a little as the words spilled out her mouth. "Any girl would be lucky to have you."

"Even a girl like you?"

"In a way I do have you. I mean you're my friend and I feel lucky to have you as my friend" Stephanie replied feeling herself blush even more. "But I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be ready to move on. At least you still have a chance to get out there and find someone to spend the rest of your life with. I'm still stuck in my past wanting a future I'll never have."

"For now. Some day when you're ready Steph you'll find someone that you feel that way about again."

"I'm not so sure" Stephanie whispered feeling her eyes start to water. She wasn't sure if she would ever feel the same way about someone as she did Brent or not compare some other guy to him.

"You will and it will be when you least expect it" Paul replied reaching over and wiping a tear away that had run down her cheek. Her blue eyes stared into his and in that moment all he wanted to do was lean over and kiss her but he knew he couldn't do that. No matter how much he wanted to.

"Steph will you please come and tell Sam that…." Stephanie jumped away from Paul upon hearing Jess's voice. She hadn't realized that she had started to lean in closer to him and she wasn't sure what had come over her. "I'm sorry did I interrupt something?"

"No we were just talking" Stephanie replied and forced a smile. She knew Jess would probably see right through it though but at least she wouldn't pressure her to talk about it. "What were you wanting me to tell Sam?"

"That we are not watching any of these scary movies he has picked out" Jess replied as Stephanie got up from the swing and rolled her eyes. She headed inside smiling to herself thinking about how she knew she was going to get pulled into this soon.

Paul still sat outside on the swing watching Stephanie and Jess head back inside. He was going to sit out here a couple of more minutes and try not to get involved because he already knew Jess and Stephanie would win on what movie they would end up watching. He was just sitting there swinging back and forth gently when he suddenly started to hear shouting next door and looked over to see Tristian standing outside on the porch. There was a woman standing on the lawn throwing her hands up in the air before pointing a finger at Tristian. He wasn't able to hear what the woman was saying because she had lowered her voice.

"It's not like that" Tristian shouted at the woman who shook her head at him and turned towards the car in the driveway. She opened the car door and turned towards Tristian.

"Well it seems that way to me so why don't you go run crying to her" the woman shouted and climbed into the car slamming the door.

Paul didn't want to seem nosy or look like he was trying to get into their business so he turned his head away from next door and got up from the swing deciding to go ahead back inside with everyone else. Before he headed inside he glanced back over suddenly feeling someone watching him to see Tristian standing on his porch staring at him with an angry look on his face. He stared at him for a few seconds before turning and going into his house and Paul made his way inside trying to shrug off the weird vibe Tristian always gave him.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you guys for the reviews :) I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Stephanie turned off the radio in her car and took a deep breath staring at the brick house in front of her. It had been a while since she had been here with everything else in her life going on. She felt bad for staying away so long but every time she was here she couldn't help but end up feeling sad either. But it wasn't right of her to avoid coming here either, she couldn't always run from the pain. One day she hoped for it to lessen more though but for now she would have to fake it until she made it.

She reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed the strap of her purse and pulled in on to her shoulder. Then she grabbed the lid covered dish that contained the peach clobber she had made. It was Brent's favorite dessert and it had only felt right to make and bring with her. Holding the dish securely as she could she turned to reach for the handle on her door but nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of someone at her window. She put the dish down in her lap and placed her hand on her chest feeling her heart pound against it.

"Sorry" came the muffled voice at the window.

"It's fine" Stephanie replied loudly trying to calm down and grabbed the dish once more and grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

"I just noticed you've been sitting here in the driveway for the last couple of minutes. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Stephanie shut the car door behind her and turned to face her father in law.

"I'm okay I was just listening to a song on the radio" Stephanie replied giving him half of the truth. He smiled and came closer to her enveloping her in a hug which she tried to return as best as she could while holding the dish in her hand.

"Great to see you. We've missed you around here" Grant said releasing her from the hug and grabbing the dish from her hand. "I'll carry this for you."

"Thanks and I've missed you guys too" Stephanie smiled at him as they walked up to the porch. She really had missed them and she felt even worse for staying away for so long. Next time she would definitely make time to come see them more often. They had always treated her like she was their daughter and that hadn't stopped even though Brent had passed away.

"Well as you can see nothing has changed around here" Grant chuckled as she walked into the all familiar living room with a couple of pictures of her and Brent hanging up along with some pictures of Darren, Brent's brother. Also a couple of pictures of them all together, one that stood out the most for her though was a picture of her and Brent on their wedding day. "Corrine look who I found."

"Stephanie" Corrine said as Stephanie turned around and watched her blue eyes light up. Looking into her eyes was almost like looking into Brent's, he had got his mother's eyes but he looked mostly like his father. Stephanie put her arms around Corrine hugging her. "Grant did you go and bother her?"

"No."

"Wait you knew I was sitting outside in the car?"

"We watched you pull into the driveway. We just didn't want to bother you dear" Corrine replied releasing her from the hug. Stephanie felt the heat in her cheeks feeling embarrassed by just sitting in the car and probably looking like an idiot. "You showed up just in time for dinner."

"Oh that reminds me Stephanie brought this" Grant said remembering the dish he was holding and handed it off to Corrine.

"Peach Cobbler" Corrine smiled after lifting the lid "Brent's favorite."

"It definitely is- was his favorite. He could never wait until after dinner to eat it" Stephanie chuckled at the memory following Corrine into the kitchen.

"He was never very good at waiting was he?" Corrine replied with a laugh of her own as she put the dish on the kitchen counter. "So how have you been?"

"I'm getting better" Stephanie replied honestly "just taking it day by day. How have you guys been?"

"It's still hard but as you said we take it day by day" Corrine replied opening up the cabinet door in front of her and pulling out some plates.

"Do you need some help?" Stephanie asked going closer to her.

"Oh no. You sit down and make yourself comfortable" Corrine replied sitting the plates down and waved her off. So Stephanie went over to the kitchen table instead and sat down in one of the chairs just as Grant came into the kitchen with them. "What are you doing?"

"Getting some of this peach cobbler" Grant said grabbing one of the plates Corrine had put out. Stephanie watched as Corrine grabbed the plate from his hand and put it back down on the counter then swatted him away.

"No you can wait until after dinner" Corrine replied as Grant grunted but turned around and headed towards the kitchen table grumbling under his breath. Stephanie shook silently with laughter and couldn't help but think of how much Brent not only looked more like his father but he acted like him too. She had been worried about the memories of Brent overwhelming her by coming here tonight but instead she enjoyed the memories. It was comforting to be here and for the first time in a long time she felt at peace.

After dinner was over and they spent time talking and eating some of the peach cobbler Stephanie had brought she caught a glimpse of the time realizing how late it was Stephanie decided it was time to leave. It was funny that when she got here she was scared to go in but now she was dreading leaving.

"Next time don't stay gone so long. We worry about you, you know" Grant said getting some more of the peach cobbler before putting the lid back on the dish and handed it to her.

"I won't and I don't want you guys worrying about me" Stephanie replied taking the dish feeling bad that she had made them worry over her.

"Tough. You are family and always will be" Grant said pulling her into hug and squeezed her gently before releasing her. Stephanie couldn't help the tears that started to well in her eyes. God sometimes they were better than her own parents, especially her father who hadn't even realized her husband had died. It felt nice to feel cared for and to be in a normal family setting tonight. "Love you."

"Love you too" Stephanie replied wiping at her eyes before the tears could fall.

"I'll be right back I'm going to walk Stephanie out" Corrine said to Grant who nodded his head and waved a goodbye at Stephanie before taking his dish with the peach cobbler and heading back to the table.

Stephanie stepped outside on the porch feeling the cool night air blowing gently causing a small shiver. She started walking to her car with Corrine along beside of her.

"You do seem better than you were the last time you were here. I'm very glad to see that" Corrine said breaking the silence as they reached her car. "Brent would want you to be happy you know? That's all he would ever want for you."

"I know" Stephanie sniffed feeling the tears come to her eyes once again. "It's just so hard. I miss him so damn much it hurts."

"We all do" Corrine replied and gave a little sniff of her own putting her hand on Stephanie's arm giving it a gentle squeeze. Stephanie stood there silently trying to hold herself together so she didn't end up bawling here in the driveway. "I try to take comfort in knowing that he'll always be a part of us. He'll always live in on in our memories."

"That doesn't feel like enough sometimes."

"Trust me, I know. But it's all we have left" Corrine replied as Stephanie embraced her letting a couple tears slip down her face. "You continue taking care of yourself and come back to see us soon okay?"

"I will" Stephanie nodded as they let go of each other and she wiped the tears from her face.

"Love you" Corrine said as they kissed each other on the cheek.

"Love you too."

"Be careful" Corrine replied as Stephanie opened her car door and slid inside her seat putting her purse and the now empty dish in the seat beside of her.

"I will. Bye" Stephanie replied shutting her car door and after she had backed out of the driveway she gave Corrine a wave goodbye and drove off in the direction of her home.

When she made it home she pulled into the driveway and turned off the car letting out a sigh as she stared ahead at the dark empty house. Paul had gone back to his house a couple of days ago and she would be lying if she said she didn't miss him. She really had got used to someone being there and she really didn't want to go in there and be alone. She especially didn't want to go in and race to push the numbers into the pad of the security alarm that Paul had insisted she get before he left. It wasn't really a hassle but she was always nervous she wouldn't reach it in time or hit the wrong numbers and the alarm would start blaring and probably scare her neighbors shitless. So far that hadn't happened but she was nervous it would but at the same time she was glad Paul had talked her into getting it. It had made her feel a lot safer at night and she was able to sleep through the night even though Paul was gone now. Staring at her house she made her decision and started her car once again knowing exactly where she wanted to be.

* * *

Paul loaded the last of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and closed the door then started it. He looked around the kitchen wanting to start cleaning up the mess he had made from dinner but at the same time all he really wanted to do was go to a bar. He had thought about calling Sam and going and having a couple of drinks but he was pretty sure Sam wouldn't be up to it considering he was probably with Jess. Work had been stressful and even though he had gone to the gym after to work it off it hadn't really helped much. Then being at home alone was boring and it was a Friday night and for once he felt like going out to do something. He didn't want to be stuck at home on a Friday night cleaning it just made him feel pathetic so abandoning the mess in the kitchen he headed into the living room to grab his keys. Just as he grabbed them off the table and headed towards the front door his doorbell rang.

"Where have you been?" Was the first thing he heard he heard as soon as he opened the door. He didn't even have time to say anything back or process what was happening as she pushed her way passed him into the house.

"Sure come on in" Paul replied sarcastically finally finding his voice and looking out to the driveway before turning towards her. "Is **he** with you?"

"No" she shook her head and ventured into his living room. He let out a frustrated sigh before closing the door and followed her into the living room. "I've been trying to call you."

"Yeah I know but there is this little nifty button on my phone that I can push to ignore it" Paul replied crossing his arms as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Stop being an ass."

"What do you want Racheal?" Paul asked watching her sit down on the couch and cross her legs.

"Have you been with that Selena or was it Serena girl from the wedding?" Racheal asked ignoring his question.

"Her name is Stephanie and it's none of your business" Paul snapped feeling tempted to just throw her over his shoulder and put her down outside and slam the door. "Why do you care anyway? Shouldn't you be at home with Mike?"

"Mike and I actually don't live together. He said he didn't want us rushing things so I have my own apartment and I went over to his place but he wasn't there. I have no idea where he is."

"Shocker" Paul snorted as she looked down at her lap. When she looked back up at him he could see her eyes starting to water.

"I miss you Paul" Racheal replied her voice shaky. Paul took a deep breath and closed his eyes not wanting to deal with this. He couldn't even bring himself to say he didn't miss her because it would be a lie because part of him did but he wasn't going to admit that he had missed her too. He was starting to wonder what the fuck was wrong with him? Why did he still miss her after what she did to him? The only answer he could come up with was because he was an idiot. "Paul?"

"What?" Paul asked opening his eyes when he felt her hand on his chest. He looked into her brown eyes that were pleading for him to say the things she wanted to hear.

"Do you miss me?" Racheal asked in almost a whisper as she ran her hand over his chest.

"Don't- "

"I made a mistake Paul. A huge mistake and I miss you so much. All I want to do is be with you, all I want is to come back home and try to put this all behind us. I'm so sorry and I'll do whatever you want me to do in order to earn back your trust" Racheal replied moving closer to him and pulling his face down to hers and kissed him. Paul reacted quickly and pulled away from her breaking the kiss.

"I can't."

"Yes you can. We can work through this we were together for three years. Don't throw all of that away."

"Me? You're the one that did that six months ago or even longer because I'm not even sure how long you were screwing around behind my back. You chose him over me, a guy who doesn't even understand the meaning of the word faithful. Maybe you two are perfect for each other" Paul spat stepping back further away from her as she looked down at the floor and wiped at her eyes.

"That's cold" Racheal sniffed looking back up at him and he shrugged his shoulders not knowing what to say to that.

"I need you to leave" Paul replied and starting walking to his front door hoping she would follow him and not give him a harder time than it needed to be. "This time when you leave don't call me and don't come back. We're over, there is nothing left here between us anymore and there never will be. There is just no way I could ever be able to trust you again."

"Because you won't try."

"I already know that I can't and honestly I don't want to be with you anymore. Every time I look at you all I can feel is the anger and hurt from when it all happened and it makes me hate you all over again. I've moved on."

"With Stephanie?" Racheal sneered "are you in love with her?"

"Just leave Racheal" Paul replied avoiding her question and motioned towards the door. He wasn't in love with Stephanie but he did have feelings for her but he didn't want to discuss Stephanie with Racheal. Maybe if Racheal believed that he was then she would stop bugging him and finally get the hint to leave him alone. He might never have a chance with Stephanie but he knew for certain he wasn't ever going to want to be with Racheal again.

"You are making a mistake and eventually one day you'll realize that but it will be too late."

"If you say so" Paul mumbled opening the door for her since she was making no movement to do so herself. Racheal let out a sigh but finally started walking to head outside but suddenly she stopped making Paul curse under his breath. Then he heard the sound of footsteps on his porch and turned to see Stephanie looking at Racheal and then to him. "Steph."

"I am interrupting something?" Stephanie asked shifting nervously around on the porch.

"No she was just leaving" Paul replied looking back at Racheal and motioned once again for her to leave. She rolled her eyes at him but complied and started walking out the door with a fake smile on her face as she looked at Stephanie.

"Have fun with him. I know I did" Racheal said as she passed by Stephanie and off of the porch. Paul gripped the doorknob tightly trying to keep himself from saying something that would cause a fight and cause her to stay longer. He just hoped that Stephanie ignored her little remark insinuating something had happened between them. Racheal was just pissed she hadn't got what she wanted and now was just trying to cause problems. It was exactly how she was and he wouldn't be surprised if the only reason she came here tonight to try and get back together was because of where she seen him with Stephanie at the wedding. She had always wanted what she couldn't have and he wasn't playing her game.

"Come on in" Paul said to Stephanie just as Racheal had started her car and began backing out of the driveway.

"I'm sorry for showing up like this I should have called before I came. I didn't know you would be busy" Stephanie replied stepping inside of his house and he shut the door behind her.

"I wasn't busy so don't worry about it" Paul replied not wanting to talk about Racheal as they walked into the living room. He had finally got rid of her and now he just wanted to forget that she had even been here tonight. "So what brings you by?"

"Well after I pulled into my driveway I thought about that stupid alarm that I would have to race in and turn off before it started going off and the cops showed up. I didn't feel like dealing with it."

"So instead you drive all the way to my house to avoid the 'stupid alarm'" Paul chuckled as she shrugged and sat down on the couch.

"I hate having to rush in to turn it off."

"But I bet you sleep a lot better now since you have it, don't you?" Paul asked sitting down beside of her and looking at her. She definitely looked well rested and just looking at her made him realize exactly how much he had missed seeing her since he had come back home.

"Yes and it's really not that bad" Stephanie admitted with a smile. "I just, I don't know I didn't feel like being alone tonight and… I kind of missed you."

"Kind of? So I didn't completely get on your nerves while I stayed at your house?" Paul teased.

"Not completely" Stephanie replied with an amused smile.

"I guess I kind of missed you too" Paul replied leaning forward on the couch and grabbing the tv remote off the coffee table. "So what would you like to do? We could watch a movie."

"A movie sounds good" Stephanie replied and Paul handed her the remote and got up from the couch.

"I'll let you pick the movie and I'll make some popcorn. Would you like something to drink?"

"A soda if you have any" Stephanie replied turning on the television as Paul left to go into the kitchen. She flipped through the channels on the television not really even paying attention. Since she had got here and seen Racheal leaving she started feeling things she hadn't liked. Especially Racheal's little remark to her as she was leaving and she hadn't been able to shake the way she was feeling. She kept wondering if something had really happened between them but she didn't want to ask. It was his business and he was allowed to see whoever and do whatever he wanted to do and if he wanted Racheal again then well, honestly she wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"What is this?" Paul asked breaking her from her thoughts and she looked at the television not realizing she had stopped flipping through the channels.

"The Notebook" Stephanie replied as Paul handed her a soda and sat back down beside of her with a bowl of popcorn. "Have you ever seen it?"

"It sounds familiar but I can't remember all the chick flicks I've had to watch."

"Oh. Well we can change it I don't want you to have to sit through a movie you'll hate."

"No it's fine we'll watch whatever you want."

"Well I'm going to warn you now. This movie makes me cry" Stephanie replied reaching into the bowl for some popcorn wondering if he had watched this movie with Racheal. That's when she was finally able to place the way she had been feeling. She was jealous. That's why she hadn't liked seeing Racheal when the door opened and the reason she hated her little remark. It made no sense though because she didn't have a reason to even be jealous because Paul wasn't her boyfriend and she had no claim on him. She was still in love with Brent and was still having a hard time adjusting to life without him so she didn't understand why she was feeling this way.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Stephanie replied opening her soda and taking a drink while trying to push her thoughts and emotions away. She just wasn't ready to try and process how she was feeling, not tonight at least. She put her soda down on the table and made herself more comfortable on the couch as she put her focus on the movie.

After a little while she found herself completely in to the movie with all thoughts pushed to the back of her mind when she felt Paul's fingers brush the back of her hand. Thinking it had been by mistake she brushed it off until she felt his fingers trail across her skin on the back of her hand causing her heart to beat faster. She tried to keep focusing on the television as he slipped his hand underneath of hers and their fingers intertwined. Neither one said anything or looked at each other they just kept their attention on the television. Part of her wanted to get up and get away as fast as possible and the other half was just too damn exhausted from all the emotions from tonight. So instead she sat there letting her thoughts race through her mind once again letting the movie turn into background noise.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you for the reviews :) I hope you guys like this chapter!

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Stephanie rolled over struggling to open her eyes, they felt heavy and she was sure they were puffy considering how much she had cried last night. She had actually cried herself to sleep so it was no surprise there was wetness underneath her eyes as she rubbed them. Apparently, she had also been crying in her sleep which was nothing new since Brent's death. Letting out a sigh she sat up in bed and brought Brent's shirt up that she had slept in last night and breathed in the faint smell of him. She hated to wear his clothes because every time she did his scent started to fade a little more but last night she needed to feel close to him.

Last night after watching the movie with Paul and how he held her hand made her rush out of his house quickly as possible once the movie was over. He had probably realized it was the reason she was trying to hurry out but he said nothing about it and hadn't brought up holding her hand. It was like he was trying not to pry and give her space which she appreciated because she wasn't ready to talk about it. The only words he spoke to her as she was leaving was to be careful and goodnight.

She put in head in her hands and groaned feeling stupid with how much of an overreaction she made to something as small as hand holding. But it was like this with every male who had tried to pay her attention since Brent had died. She got scared and she ran because she wasn't ready to move on, she wasn't ready to go out and explore this foreign new future that didn't include Brent. Which is why when she got home and punched in her alarm code she went straight to her room stripping out of clothes and found her favorite shirt of Brent's she had tucked away with the rest of his clothes. Then the guilt came as always not long after that, if it wasn't being scared then it was the guilt that stopped her from trying to move on. She always felt like in some way she was cheating on Brent even though he was no longer alive.

"I wish I could talk to you. I wish you could tell me what to do" Stephanie whispered laying her head back on the headboard and closing her eyes. The words of Brent's mom telling her that he would want her to be happy played in her head. Would he want her to be happy with some other man? Make a future with someone that wasn't him? And would some other man understand what Brent meant to her and would always mean to her? All of it swirled around in her head until the sound of her doorbell made her jump.

She climbed out of bed and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on before making her way out of the bedroom. The whole walk from the hallway to the front door she silently prayed that it wasn't Paul because she wasn't ready to face him just yet. Plus, she knew she probably looked like hell from the crying and her hair was a mess from just waking up. But when she opened her door and saw who it was it almost made her wish it was Paul instead.

"Good morning" Vince said after clearing his throat and fidgeted awkwardly as she stared at him.

"Good morning" Stephanie replied feeling confused as to why he was even at her house. She couldn't even remember the last time he had visited but she knew it had been before Brent died.

"Could I come in?" Vince asked after a minute or two of a silence had fell between them.

"Um… sure" Stephanie replied awkwardly stepping aside for him to come inside the house. It wasn't like she could say no, well maybe she could but he was her father and even though she was still hurt from the birthday party she wasn't going to be mean to him.

"It's been a while since I've been here" Vince said breaking the uncomfortable silence as he looked around the living room. Stephanie had to bite back her response that was sitting on the tip of her tongue so an argument wouldn't be started. "So…are you making it okay around here since um…. Brent's death?"

"The best I can" Stephanie shrugged as he turned to face her.

"If you need anything, something fixed or even help with money I'll be glad to help."

"Everything is fine" Stephanie replied with a tight smile. This was her father's way of trying to make things right between them, trying to apologize for his actions. 'Fixing something' didn't mean he was actually going to fix it, no it meant paying someone to do it. He always thought he could use his money to fix things and make everything better but it wasn't going to work with her.

"I just thought I would come by and make sure everything was good here and ask you if you wanted to join me for lunch."

"Who else is going to be there?"

"Just you and me. I thought it would be better for us to catch up with it only being us. Apparently, there is a lot I don't know or don't remember and I do care Stephanie. I know at the birthday party it might have seem differently but I really do."

"So just us? Blondie isn't going to be joining us?" Stephanie asked crossing her arms as Vince looked confused as to who she was talking about. "Your girlfriend."

"No. Jill won't be joining us. It really will be just you and me" Vince replied but she was hesitant to accept. Everything now seemed uncomfortable so she wasn't sure how that would change over lunch. Also, the last times she had lunch with him he hadn't even bothered to pay attention. She didn't believe he had just 'forgot' things she had told him. How could he just forget her telling him that her husband had died? It was making her have a hard time believing he cared if he could forget something like that. But as she stared at him he seemed to be genuine that he actually wanted to sit down and listen to her.

"I guess that would be good. I just need to shower quickly so do you want to meet at the restaurant?"

"I'll just wait here. We can go together and I'll bring you back here unless you'd rather drive yourself."

"You can wait here I just didn't want you to be bored or anything."

"I'll be fine. I'll just sit and watch some television" Vince replied making his way over to her couch and sitting down.

"Okay be out soon" Stephanie replied walking back down her hallway quickly. She just hoped this lunch wouldn't be as uncomfortable and awkward as it had been since he arrived.

* * *

Stephanie took a sip of her iced tea and then placed it back down on the table as she watched Vince type away on his phone. It had been like this from the moment they arrived at the restaurant, he had only stopped to give his order to the waiter and then it was right back to the phone. Stephanie sighed as she folded her arms on the table and knew she had a right to be hesitant earlier in accepting his invitation. She now wished she would have declined because he was clearly not going to talk to her or listen to anything she had to say. At least she could say she tried but now she regretted not driving her own car.

"Sorry about that" Vince said sitting his phone on the table and grabbing his drink for the first time. "I had to take care of some work stuff quickly."

"Of course, you did" Stephanie mumbled under her breath. It's what he was always doing when she had gone out to have lunch or dinner with him countless of times before. It was surprising he could even have time for his new girlfriend. "So how long have you been dating Jill?"

"Not very long. Let's talk about you though I know you must be going through a hard time with losing Brent."

"It's definitely been a hard year. Some days are harder than most" Stephanie replied trying to force back the tears. She wasn't expecting Vince to start talking about Brent's death so soon. She thought if he talked about it at all it would be probably towards the end of the lunch.

"It was a car crash, right?" Vince asked and she nodded her head. "I remembered you telling me that after you left the party that night. A little too late though, I guess I was just always used to Brent being wherever you were. I wasn't even thinking when I asked where Brent was."

"Yeah he usually was" Stephanie replied with a small smile as she thought about how the party would have been if Brent had been there. He would have been joking around with Shane, her mom wouldn't have invited some guy there at an attempt to set her up. Brent would have put her at ease once Vince had showed up and tried to ease the tension at the table once Vince made his little comment referring to Linda. But unfortunately, Brent wasn't there and these things were probably stuff she was going to have to get used to happening.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the waiter as he approached the table with their food and put it down in front of them and then left after making sure they didn't need anything else. When the waiter left, Stephanie happened to look across the restaurant where she felt her heart give a little flip. She wasn't sure if it was from the sudden nerves or just from seeing him that made it happen as she watched him sit down at a table with his back to her. Her attention had been on him since the moment she seen him that she hadn't noticed the blonde woman with him, until now.

"Is that the guy that went after you as you were leaving the birthday party?" Vince asked as she brought her attention back to the table.

"Yeah" Stephanie replied before taking a drink of her iced tea and tried to keep her attention at her table.

"Are you two dating?" Vince asked looking confused as he looked over to Paul's table.

"No. We're just friends" Stephanie replied with a sinking feeling in her chest as she glanced back over at his table. She watched as the blonde woman laughed at something he had probably said to her. It hurt to watch for some reason and she had this strange feeling of wanting to go over there and…...well she wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to do. All she knew what she wanted to do was try to forget he was sitting across the room.

"So how is work?" Vince asked as she pushed around the food on her plate feeling no longer hungry. At least Vince could sense she didn't want to talk about Paul, or he just wanted to make conversation since silence had fell between them. It didn't matter to her at the moment. She was just grateful for a change of topic.

The rest of her lunch was spent trying to keep her eyes from wandering to Paul's table and focused on talking with Vince. Once they had finished lunch she was quick to get away from the restaurant and when Vince dropped her off at home she went directly to her car.

* * *

It didn't take her long before she was sitting down on her best friend's couch as Jess made her way into the living room carrying a glass of wine.

"Here you go" Jess said handing her the glass which Stephanie instantly grabbed and took a huge drink of. She didn't care that it was too early to be drinking, she really needed it. "That bad of a day already?"

"I had lunch with my dad today."

"Oh. You don't have say anymore" Jess replied sitting down beside of her.

"It's not just that. It actually wasn't that bad and he seemed to really pay attention. Well after the first little bit of staying glued to his phone anyway."

"Then why do you seem so upset?"

"Last night I went over to Paul's house" Stephanie began as Jess arched her eyebrow. "Racheal was there- "

"Oh, God please don't tell me he's back with her."

"I don't think so" Stephanie shook her head before continuing. "She was leaving as I made it to his door and gave some little comment insinuating something happened between them. He didn't say anything about her though so I didn't bring it up either. Instead we ended up watching a movie and somewhere during the movie, he I don't know made a move I guess and held my hand. I don't know if it was really considered a move. It's been a long time since I've been in the dating world."

"He held your hand?" Jess asked smiling and Stephanie narrowed her eyes at her.

"Why are you smiling about it?"

"I think it's cute."

"Cute? It freaked me out and now I'm not sure how to act around him or what he is expecting from me."

"Steph chill. It was only a little hand holding it's not like you two had sex or he asked you to marry him. Unless you were just getting around to telling me that" Jess joked as Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Okay so what happened? Did you pull away?"

"No. We just kept watching the movie until I had to get up to use the bathroom. When I came back he didn't try to hold my hand again or anything and after the movie ended I made the excuse of needing to get home. We exchanged goodbyes and we haven't talked since last night" Stephanie replied thinking about how she had avoided talking about what happened with him last night, she didn't want talk or think about what happened. It had caused feelings that she wasn't ready to even think about or deal with but now it's all she could think of since she seen him with the blonde at lunch. "Then when I was out to lunch with my dad I ended up seeing Paul, with some blonde woman."

"So, you're freaked out but jealous at the same time?" Jess asked but Stephanie didn't a chance to answer as the door to the apartment opened and Sam walked in. She didn't want to have this conversation in front of Sam who was Paul's best friend. Thankfully Jess knew that and didn't say anything else especially since Paul was the next person to come through the door behind Sam. Stephanie tensed up when she saw the blonde from the restaurant following behind them and shutting the door behind her.

"Did we interrupt something?" Sam asked looking over at Stephanie and Jess who had become silent.

"No, we were just talking about Stephanie's lunch with her dad today" Jess replied and to be fair they had talked about it for maybe a second before the subject turned to Paul.

"You had lunch with your dad today? How did it go?" Paul asked looking at her with a concerned look.

"It actually wasn't that bad. He seemed to be listening to me and interested in my life for once."

"Well it definitely sounds better than the last time you saw him" Paul replied as the blonde woman came closer to him pushing her hair from off her shoulder and cleared her throat. Paul looked at her as if he forgot about her before turning back his attention back to Stephanie and Jess. "Sorry I forgot you guys haven't met. Lynn this is Stephanie and Jess. Guys this is my sister Lynn."

"It's nice to finally put a name to the face" Lynn replied looking at Stephanie with a smile. Stephanie couldn't help but smile back as she felt relief flood through her unexpectedly.

"Don't listen to anything she has to say about me either because it probably won't be true" Paul replied and Lynn smacked his arm.

"I wouldn't talk bad about you or say anything that wasn't true" Lynn replied crossing her arms as Paul made his way over to the couch and sat down beside of Stephanie.

"So, you're feeling okay after seeing your dad?" Paul asked Stephanie turning towards her on the couch as Lynn and Jess started a conversation.

"Yeah I actually am. I guess he was trying to make up for what happened at the birthday party" Stephanie replied before taking a drink of her wine. "I uh actually saw you at the restaurant today."

"You did? I didn't see you. You should have come over and said hi."

"I didn't want to interrupt" Stephanie shrugged as she noticed Jess get up from the couch and walk towards the kitchen along with Lynn and Sam.

"You wouldn't have. I was wondering how you were doing today" Paul replied and she knew he was referring to last night and how she ran out so quickly. She really didn't know what to say or if she wanted to talk about it. She felt like she was on a rollercoaster with her emotions and none of it was making sense. "I'm sorry about last night."

"Don't apologize. You have nothing to be sorry about" Stephanie shook her head.

"I feel like I should though. It clearly freaked you out and I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have done that. But I'm hoping we can put it behind us and we can forget about it because I don't want you to feel weird around me. I really like hanging out with you and your friendship means a lot to me" Paul replied leaving her at a loss of words. She was trying to sort out what she wanted to say when she heard laughter from the kitchen and Paul's name being said. "I swear I can't take her anywhere near my friends without her telling some kind of an embarrassing story. I'll be right back."

Stephanie sat there on the couch and watched him walk into the kitchen shaking his head leaving her heart beating wildly in her chest. She wasn't sure if forgetting about it and putting it behind them was what she wanted but at the same time she wasn't sure about what to do. Just this morning she was wiping away her tears from the pain and guilt she felt towards Brent because of what had happened with Paul. It wasn't just the hand holding that done it either, now she knew that. It was how she was starting to feel for Paul and she could try to deny it all she wanted but there was a place in her heart making room for Paul little by little. She didn't feel ready for it but she had no choice and she knew she couldn't lead him on either. Which left her with the question of what the hell was she supposed to do?


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for the reviews :) I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it!

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Stephanie stepped inside her house shutting and locking her door behind her. She walked into the living room and dropped her purse on her couch with a sigh. Her mind had been occupied for the last couple of days with thoughts of Paul and Brent. Even today at work that's where her mind had drifted off to and she felt unfocused and that was something she shouldn't be doing. Especially since she was trying to teach a classroom of children. Somehow, she was going to have to keep her work and everything else separate. Usually she had no problems with it but after realizing her growing feelings for Paul it seemed like he was on her mind constantly. Then there were the thoughts of Brent and how guilty she was feeling for even feeling something for Paul. She was scared too that she would start forgetting Brent, like the sound of his voice, the way he would look at her like she was the most important thing to him, their little inside jokes and the way she felt wrapped up in his arms. Which is why now she went searching through her DVD's to find the DVD of her and Brent's wedding. She needed to see him, she needed to hear his voice just to make sure she wasn't forgetting the way he sounded.

After a few minutes of searching she found it and gripped the case it was in suddenly feeling a little scared to take it out and watch it. What if all the pain numbing grief she felt when he died came rushing back? Was she ready to do this without completely falling apart? Seeing the pictures on the wall was sometimes too much for her so how would seeing him and hearing him again be like? A few minutes of wrestling internally over what to do she slowly opened the case and took out the DVD and put it into her DVD player. The need to see him and hear him won over the sudden fear of what she would feel afterwards.

She went over and sat down on the couch grabbing the remote to the television and the DVD player off the coffee table in front of her. Then footage of the church they wed in filled the screen and as soon as she saw him tears instantly pricked her eyes. When it came time for them to speak, no matter how much she had tried to prepare herself, hearing him made all kinds of emotions swirl inside her chest and overwhelmed her. That's when she began to sob uncontrollably to the point she felt like she couldn't breathe and it hurt to even try to breathe. Not just because of the crying but because of the pain of watching and hearing him brought. But she just couldn't turn it off. She sat there watching scene for scene with her vision blurred from the tears.

"Why?" Stephanie asked out loud to the empty room bowing her head and wiping at the tears. So many questions unanswered and would forever remain that way. She didn't understand why Brent was taken so soon and so young. Why she was having to go through all of this pain, why she had to live without him.

"Steph?" She heard her name said and she jumped slightly. She turned her head to see Paul looking worriedly at her and she turned her head quickly and wiped at her eyes. A few seconds passed and Paul's hand was in front of her holding a tissue. She reached out and grabbed it to wipe her eyes and her nose.

"Thanks" Stephanie replied as he sat down beside of her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. No" Stephanie replied pushing her hair behind her ears after she felt presentable enough from crying so hard. She waited for him to say something else to her but when she looked over at him he was staring at the television. She was pretty sure he wasn't saying anything because he knew now why she wasn't okay. She looked back at the television to see her and Brent dancing at their wedding reception now. She sniffed and held back the tears that threatened to spill when she watched Brent lean down and whisper in her ear. He had whispered to her how beautiful she looked and how much he loved her and something along the lines of not being able to wait to get her out of her dress. She closed her eyes and let out a loud sigh before she felt arms being wrapped around her and then she was being cradled against Paul's chest.

As he held her she could still feel the pain in her chest but somehow with him holding her it felt bearable. It didn't hurt so bad to breathe through the pain and that's when she knew she was going to be okay. Breathing in and out slowly calming herself down further she felt his fingertips glide up and down her spine and relaxed further into him.

"Thank you" Stephanie said once she didn't feel like she was going to start crying again.

"You don't have to thank me" Paul replied taking his hand from her back and running it through the back of her hair.

"Not to sound ungrateful or that I don't want you here but what are you doing here?"

"I hadn't heard from you in a couple of days and I wanted to know how you were doing."

"You could have called" Stephanie replied raising up from his chest to look at him.

"Yeah I could have but I wanted to see you. Besides this way, you can't hide how you actually are or try to make an excuse to rush off the phone."

"I wouldn't do that" Stephanie replied shaking her head slightly but he looked at her unconvinced.

"Really? So, if you would have picked up and I would have asked if you had been avoiding me because of the night I held your hand you wouldn't have tried rushing off the phone?" Paul asked and she looked away because he was right. She probably would have tried avoiding that conversation because she wasn't ready to talk about that night. Or her growing feelings for him because she wasn't sure how to deal with them or what to do. She didn't want to lead him on either but sometimes she felt like maybe she was already doing that, which made her feel guilty. She felt it was best not to tell him how she was feeling until she could sort all of this out for herself at least. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him or give him hope for something that she wasn't ready for yet. It wasn't right to ask him to wait for her, was it? This is what she had been thinking about and why she wasn't ready to talk about it.

"I haven't been meaning to avoid you it's just I've had a lot on my mind" Stephanie answered as truthfully as she could. She had been avoiding him but not really on purpose, she was just trying to process everything. Which left her not really knowing what to say to him and left her emotions and thoughts all jumbled. "How did you get in I thought I locked the door when I came in."

"You did but I still have your spare key. I tried knocking but I guess you didn't hear me. Now stop trying to change the subject."

"I'm not avoiding you because you held my hand that night but I'm not ready to talk about that night either. Is it okay if we, I don't know, put that conversation on hold for the time being?"

"As long as you can promise me you won't avoid me because of it or let it ruin the friendship that we have."

"I promise."

"Do you want me to turn this off?" Paul asked motioning to the television and she nodded her head without looking at it. Maybe it had been too soon to watch it or maybe she would always feel this way. She didn't know. She just knew right now it was too much for her.

Paul grabbed the remote between them and turned off the television as Stephanie kept her eyes away from the television. He wished there was something he could do to take away all of her pain but he knew that wasn't possible. At least she had let him hold her and comfort her even though she had acted awkward around him the last time they were together. All because he had to go and made the decision to hold her hand the night they watched that movie together. That night was still fresh on his mind, he remembered the way she had this expression on her face as if she was thinking really hard about something at the start of the movie. He couldn't help but wonder what she had been thinking about and after that he wasn't able to take his eyes off her. The movie was just background noise to him as he watched her and the realization of how much he really did care for her hit him hard. The only thing he could think about at that point was wanting to kiss her but instead he found himself brushing his fingers up against her hand without really thinking about what he was doing. She didn't say anything or move her hand so he let his fingers trail against the back of her hand before slipping his hand underneath hers. She still didn't say anything or move her hand or even tense up so he turned his attention to the movie trying to be content with just holding her hand. He still wanted to kiss her but he was afraid to move any further than holding her hand. Afraid that she may freak out if he had kissed her and now knowing that even holding her hand freaked her out he was glad he hadn't tried kissing her. Part of him wished she would have said something then instead of letting him hold her hand but then the selfish part of him was glad she hadn't. He was starting to hate how it was getting harder to keep his feelings towards her under control and it was getting harder to be just her friend. But he wasn't going to push her into anything she didn't want no matter how much harder it was going to be to try to keep things strictly friends between them.

"Have you eaten yet?" Stephanie asked pushing her hair behind her ears as she looked up at him bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Not yet."

"How about I start cooking something? If you want to stay that is."

"I'd like that" Paul replied as she got up and started heading into the kitchen.

* * *

A little while later Stephanie finished up her dinner and headed to the bathroom leaving him to finish the rest of his food. They had talked about their day and different topics and it was easy as it always was with no awkwardness which he was glad of. He just hoped it stayed that way.

When Paul finished eating he got up from the table and went to grab Stephanie's plate from her side of the table to wash the dishes for her. But he was interrupted by her calling his name and she sounded panicked so he abandoned the plates at the moment to go to her.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked seeing her standing in the hallway outside the bathroom.

"I need you to kill that spider" Stephanie replied pointing to the side of her bathtub. It wasn't really that big but it wasn't that small either and it was crawling on the side of the bathtub. He had to choke back his laughter at how frightened she was by it. She must have noticed because when he looked back at her she had her eyes narrowed at him. "This is not the time to laugh or make fun of me. Just kill it please."

Trying to hide his smile he went into the bathroom and killed the spider letting it fall to the floor. He then got a piece of tissue and picked it up to throw it away in her waste basket.

"No don't throw it away it in here. Throw it outside."

"Why?" Paul asked looking over at her as she stared at the piece of tissue.

"I don't want it to stay in here incase it's still alive."

"I'm positive it's dead sweetheart" Paul replied but she shook her head.

"Just please throw it outside. I'm just really weird about spiders" Stephanie replied giving a tiny shudder.

"Okay" Paul replied trying to hold back his laughter once again as he came out of the bathroom and she stepped back from him as far as possible. Almost as if the spider was going to come back alive and jump out of the tissue and on to her.

Once he had thrown the piece of tissue in her garbage can outside he went back inside to find her back in the kitchen running water to wash the dishes he was going to wash. She must have been in her own little world or hadn't heard him come back in or come behind her. So, he reached out letting his fingertips barely graze the back of her arm and she tried swiping at the back of her arm and whirled around as he laughed.

"That is not funny" Stephanie said reaching out to smack him on the chest but he grabbed her wrist and brought her close against him. Holding her gently but firmly against him trapping her hands in between them on his chest so she couldn't smack him.

"Did you think it was the ghost of the spider?" Paul asked laughing "or that the spider had come back to life and got out of the tissue before I made it outside."

"I can't help that I'm terrified of spiders" Stephanie replied giving him a little pout. His eyes focused on her pouted lip as he tried to fight the urge to kiss her. Holding back his feelings was going to be a lot tougher than he had actually realized.

Stephanie stared at him as he stared at her lips and for a moment she wondered what it would feel like to kiss him. That was until he slowly started to move his face closer to hers and she realized that maybe she really was leading him on. Maybe it was better to talk about how her growing feelings for him even if she hadn't sorted it out for herself then to keep possibly leading him on. It just wasn't fair to him.

"Paul" Stephanie said turning her head slightly away from him.

"I'm sorry" Paul replied and then cursed under his breath.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sure I'm giving you all kinds of mixed signals" Stephanie shook her head as he let her go and she stepped back. "I know I said earlier I wasn't ready to talk about the night you held my hand. But maybe we should go ahead and talk about it."

"You don't have to Steph" Paul replied as she went over to the kitchen table and sat down in the chair she had been sitting in earlier.

"I need to" Stephanie replied and motioned for him to come sit beside of her at the table. A few seconds later he came over and sat down beside of her as she tried to think of how to start.

"Are you sure? I don't want to push you into anything or make things more awkward between us" Paul replied and she nodded her head at him and licked her lips.

"The next day after I had run out on you that night I realized I freaked out, you were right about that. But I didn't freak out because you held my hand. I freaked out and ran because I've started to develop feelings for you that I'm not really sure I'm ready for. I wanted to try and sort through this by myself before I said anything but I'm afraid I'm just leading you on and I don't want to hurt you" Stephanie replied laying her hand on top of his hand that was resting on the table. "I just don't know what to do and I can't ask you to wait for me. Especially since I don't know when I'll be ready for what I'm feeling for you. And even though I have started to have these feelings for you there is still a bigger part of my heart that belongs to Brent. There will always be a part of my heart that will belong to him. I feel guilty for even feeling what I am for you."

"Steph, you haven't been leading me on so don't feel guilty or bad about that. As for not wanting to ask to me wait, you don't have to but I will wait. Because what I feel for you is worth exploring if you want to try but I'm not going to push you. I'll take it as slow as you want, you can set the pace between us, you can call all the shots. And I know that Brent will always have a part of your heart. He was a major part of your life and I'm not asking or trying to replace him and I'll never do either one of those. I know you feel guilty but Brent wouldn't want you to be alone for the rest of your life. I'm not just saying this because I want to be with you and I'm not acting as if I knew Brent. I just know if something like that would have happened to me and I had a wife I left behind that I'd want her to move on and be happy. I'll do whatever you want and I'll give you all the time you need" Paul explained as she realized he was the one now holding her hand and stroking his thumb across the back of it.

"Slow is good. Slow is want I need."

"Do you want to keep everything the way it has been and then whenever you're ready then we take the next step you're comfortable with?"

"That sounds good. I'm just scared that it will take a while for me to be ready."

"Don't worry about that right now. Like I said I'm willing to wait and to go slow."

"I know but I can't help but feel guilty for asking you to wait."

"Please don't" Paul replied reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and then cupped the side of her face. "I want to and if for some reason, you never feel ready then I'll still be here as your friend."

Stephanie nodded her head slightly and hoped she made the right decision and hoped she didn't end up hurting him.


End file.
